Southern University has fired head coach Terrence Graves after less than two seasons in charge. Graves went 10-11 in his season and a half with the Jaguars. Fred McNair will be the interim head coach for the rest of the 2025 season.
Graves was named Southern’s head coach in December 2023 after serving as the interim head coach for the Bayou Classic. Southern won that game 27-22 against Grambling State. Before that game, Graves had been the interim head coach once before: at Grambling State in 2021, where he coached the Tigers to a Bayou Classic win against Southern 29-26. Graves is 11-11 overall in his career as head coach.
Graves took over in 2024, following Eric Dooley’s dismissal. He improved the team from 6-5 to 8-5, which included a SWAC Championship Game appearance at the end of the 2024 campaign. The Jaguars lost 41-13 to Jackson State, but expectations were high for 2025. Unfortunately for Southern and Graves, 2025 has been a terrible year. The Jaguars sit at 1-6 overall and 0-3 in the SWAC. The lone win came against Mississippi Valley State by a score of 34-29 in a non-conference matchup. MVSU is 1-5 overall and their lone victory was against non-affiliated Lincoln University in California. All five of Southern’s losses in 2025 have been by at least 17 points.
Unsurprisingly, Southern has seen a dip on both sides of the ball. The offense is averaging nearly 50 yards per game fewer than last season (from 364 to 318), while the defense is surrendering 8 more points (from 23.3 to 31.7) and 91 more yards per game than last year (from 300 to 391). The Jaguars have only 4 passing touchdowns this year through six games after throwing for 15 last season. The Jaguars will face Florida A&M (2-4) at home, play at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-4), at Alcorn State (1-6), home to Texas Southern (4-3), and end with the Bayou Classic against Grambling State (4-3).
Southern hasn’t won the SWAC Championship since 2013 under Dawson Odums. The Jaguars have made appearances in 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2024, but are 0-5, and none of the games have finished within one score.
Under new rules established by the NCAA earlier this month, players will have to wait until five days after a new coach is announced or hired before entering the transfer portal. Players will have a 15-day window to enter the portal once it becomes open.
Photo Credit to Southern University Athletics
