BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Southern University Athletic Director Roman Banks outlined his vision for the immediate future of the football program during a news conference at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15 in the A.W. Mumford Field House.
The day before, Southern announced the firing of head football coach Eric Dooley.
“Whenever you break a relationship with a coach, it’s always tough because we come in with open arms and welcome everybody in,” Banks said.
He said he met with Dooley on Tuesday morning and “agreed that this is probably the best time to go our different ways.”
Banks talked about the last game left — the Bayou Classic.
“For me, we thought it was important to probably inject ourselves with some other type of energy that would give us an opportunity to go in and be our best self and represent this university well for the Bayou Classic,” Banks said.
Acting head coach Sean Wallace, who was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer in October, then talked about the Bayou Classic during his short time in front of the microphone.
“It’s the most important game that we play,” he said.
Terrence Graves is the interim head coach for the Bayou Classic.
“It’s truly an honor to stand here as the interim head football coach here at Southern University,” he said.
Graves was asked what the roles would be for Wallace and him during the game. Watch his answer in the video player above.
Southern University lost their last game to Prairie View, 27-21, and their overall record stands at 5-5.
