Dawson’s team: Norfolk State football hires former Southern head coach Odums to lead program
NORFOLK, Va. (BVM) — Dawson Odums has done introductory press conferences before. As the head football coach at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. for the past nine seasons, including an abbreviated turn as the team’s interim head coach two games into the 2012 season, Odums knows what it is like to handle the media as the man in charge of a football program. This press conference was no different, except for the media members, the location and the team he was representing.
On Wednesday, Odums was introduced as the new head football coach at Norfolk State University following the departure of previous head coach Latrell Scott, who resigned in March to pursue other career opportunities.
“I’m excited and enthusiastic about the next opportunity,” Odums said. “I’m ready to roll up my sleeves, I’m ready to go to work and I’m ready to help build a program. Spartans it is time to rise up!”
In Odums, the Spartans have gained a proven winner and valuable leader. Odums led the Jaguars to winning seasons in each of the last eight years as head coach and compiled a 63-35 record including a 53-17 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play. He’s also won the hardware with Southern as he led the program to four SWAC Western Division Championships and the 2013 SWAC Football Championship. Individually, Odums was also recognized as the SWAC coach of the year in 2013.
With all the success, the question on many peoples’ minds was, “Why leave such a winning program?” Odums answer was simple.
“I asked the same question ‘Why Norfolk State?’ but my answer is always ‘Why not?’” Odums said. “When I digested everything I was able to come up with a decision. Norfolk State happened at the right time. It was time for Dawson Odums to embrace a new journey and I’m grateful for that opportunity.”
Not only does Odums bring a winning pedigree with him to Norfolk, but also a strong understanding of recruiting. Having already coached at an HBCU in Southern, Odums knows what value HBCU programs can provide student-athletes and has been recruiting players by promoting these advantages for over a decade. As a former coach at fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference schools North Carolina A&T and Bethune-Cookman and having also played college football at HBCU North Carolina Central University where he graduated in 1997, Odums’ transition to Norfolk State will be considerably easier than it would have been for someone coming in with little to no experience at an HBCU.
“I’m a product of an HBCU, I’m a proud graduate of North Carolina Central University,” Odums said. “Being an HBCU graduate we are proud individuals. We all have love for our product. Building of young men, I am who I am because of the coaches, the administration, the people I encountered at North Carolina Central. … I want to give back, I want to instill and deposit some of those same things that were passed on to me. I want to love these guys, care about them.”
If convincing prospective student-athletes with the benefits of HBCU wasn’t enough, Odums can always lean on the success his players have had both on and off the field. During his tenure as head coach, six players have signed with teams in the NFL or CFL. In addition to their success on the field, Odums also raised Southern’s Academic Progress Rate to 952 in the NCAA’s most recent report while also having fifty-seven players earn Dean’s List honors during the fall 2020 semester.
“When you come to college and get that opportunity, first and foremost, it’s about getting a degree,” Odums said. “Our world can only get better when we deposit these young men with a degree. … We’re about graduating. We’re about making the communities better. What makes our communities better? Having more young men ready to serve it with a degree.”
Odums also believes in recruiting heavily in the state of Virginia. He is approaching recruiting by the “gas tank philosophy” meaning to be able to travel to the places he wants to recruit using only a tank of gas.
“I think we should be able to get everywhere with a full tank of gas,” Odums said. “D.C., rural areas, I believe there’s enough talent to go around in the state of Virginia. Recruiting is the blueprint, it’s the backbone to a successful football program. You have to get out. You have to look under rocks. You have to dig. But, you’ve got to build relationships. … If you build relationships and trust, people will welcome their young men to your program. Winning helps, but building relationships is what it’s all about.”
While the team has not been able to put the work in on the field, with the fall 2020 season and spring 2021 season being canceled due to the pandemic, Odums knows that the players will be ready to play when that time comes. What he is more concerned about is getting the team to buy into what he is preaching in order to create a successful program.
“Players want to win, players want to play football, they want to work out, that’s the easy part,” Odums said. “Doing it together, doing it for the right purpose, that’s the hard part. But, we have a process in place that allows us the opportunity to shape these men the right way. … That has to be taught. These guys don’t know that. So we have to teach certain things to them before they ever get to the field and we’re going to do that.”
With his ability as a coach on the field and a leader of men off of it, Odums appears to be a perfect fit for the Spartans. Following canceled 2020 fall and 2021 spring football seasons, Norfolk State fans are eager for a return to football. Given his success over the past decade, Odums should be able to bring not only football back, but wins also.
