MEAC Football: Dawson Odums leaves Southern for Norfolk State

NSU is in a fertile recruiting area in Virginia. 

If the names Michael Vick, Ronald Curry, and Allen Iverson sound familiar, they are all from the Virginia Tidewater area. Though not as heavily populated as other areas in the country (like Miami-Dade), Hampton, Virginia Beach, Newport News, and Norfolk areas produce great athletes at all levels of collegiate athletics.

In Odums’ introductory presser, he mentioned the word “legacy.” By the decade Odums spent at Southern building that program back into a national power, Odums’ legacy in football is a builder of programs. Norfolk State is a perfect place to cement that sort of legacy.

When Georgia hired Kirby Smart, many writers and SEC coaches called UGA a “sleeping giant.” NSU is the sleeping giant of the HBCU football world. Since 2011, the Spartans are 42-60. Under outgoing coach Latrell Scott, NSU went 21-35.

Darnell Moore was the last coach to leave Norfolk without a losing record; Moore went 26-26. Moore needed three consecutive winning seasons to get to .500. Willard Bailey was the last Spartans’ coach with a winning record at 52-40-1.

One of Norfolk State’s football program critiques has been the university’s investment in the program. Odums’ salary is a step in the right direction. Odums can flat recruit, and there are plenty of great players in the 757 area code.

If there is a shared investment between the university and the coaching staff, Odums could wake up this sleeping MEAC giant.