When Southern University Board of Supervisor Vice Chairman Tony Clayton introduced a resolution for Southern’s athletic department to enter talks with LSU for a proposed football game next season, he may have started something that will not be finished. In this case, he may want a game that will not get played.
After failing to get members from both schools to vote on a joint resolution at their annual joint board meeting, he approached Southern’s board and received an 11-4 vote favoring the resolution.
“I know that I sometimes think ‘out the box.’ But we can’t find anyone to play in our Shreveport game on September 4 and LSU can’t find anyone to play on that day either,” Clayton said. “So during the joint meeting, I just put two and two together and made the suggestion.”
Clayton requested that Southern’s board allow the resolution to be added to the meeting’s agenda. Board member Johnny Anderson questioned the intent of Clayton and Floyd Kerr, SU director of athletics, as he opposed the resolution.
Anderson said that the board was never needed to negotiate games before and that protocol for the proposed match up was not any different. Anderson later added that the match up would expose Southern to injuries similar to those in the 2002 season. Southern played Northwestern State and Tulane early in the season and barely averted a losing record due to injuries.
“Sports are not made for you to go with undefeated seasons. If you play a team that’s better than you, then the underlined mission is that you learn. Just like when they go into every season thinking they will win every game, they don’t,” Clayton said.
The board’s athletic committee chairman John Belton, board member Dottie Bell and student representative Frank Taylor opposed the resolution also. Both Bell and Anderson said that they would rather see Southern continue the tradition of having rivalries with other Historically Black Colleges and Universities, such as Florida A&M University and Tennessee State University.
“If we can get another HBCU to give us $500,000 to play, then I’d play,” said Southern’s head coach Pete Richardson. “But you just can’t play a game with another team just because they are another team anymore. College athletics has moved beyond that.”
Tulane University is the only NCAA Division I-A university that Div I-AA Southern has played. The Green Wave defeated the Jags in both of their meetings by a combined score of 78-26, but Clayton does not want another match up with the college. He used past payoff conflicts with opposing schools to defend his argument.
“I don’t know if we’ve gotten a check yet from playing in Shreveport and Tulane has not been wholeheartedly straightforward with us when we played them,” Clayton said. “We go there knowing we’ve had 30, 40 or 50,000 people and they call and say the count is a number that we know is less-which means they have to split the gate. Then when (the game) counts as our home game, they say it’s more than that, which means we have to pay them. LSU has the integrity and LSU will pay.”
Clayton said that a game with LSU would be beneficial to the community and that “astronomical” tailgating would build camaraderie between the two schools. According to Clayton, Southern could receive up to $700,000 in a guaranteed payoff.
“Mr. Clayton is wrong,” said LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman. “I don’t know where that came from. We basically give teams that are in state $400,000. We have given other out of state schools up to $600,000 because of things such as private transportation.”
Bertman said that the average intake when LSU plays an in-state team is approximately $90,000. When they play an out of state team, they average roughly $84,000.
“We make up about $6,000 in concessions and extra ticket prices. But when you play an in-state school, it’s a really good thing because people get together. They’ve never been on our campus. It really doesn’t matter if it’s Southern or another school.”
Whether $400,000 or $700,00, Southern could definitely use the money. The athletic facilities are currently in need of major renovations.
Southern has planned to provide athletes with a new training facility, lights for the football practice field and dormitories. Departments such as strength and conditioning training and sports medicine are now housed in doublewide trailers. The players do not have a designated locker room.
“The bottom line is who cares whether or not there is a win or loss. The bottom line is that the students get the exposure. The students get the experience of playing a (Division) I-A school,” Clayton said. “It’s not about winning or losing. It’s how you play the game and in my opinion, this is a business and it’s about getting paid.”
LSU defeated Div. I-AA team Western Illinois, 35-7, earlier this season. That game was a replacement for Marshall University. According to Kerr, Tigers’ head coach Nick Saban said that the Tigers are currently seeking to play against another Div. I-A team to fill their vacant spot. LSU is currently No. 4 in Bowl Championship Series standings and playing Southern could hurt them in the rankings season if a game is scheduled.
“People today have to be fairly cognizant of other teams and their power rating,” said Bertman. “Each year, you could play a team that doesn’t have a power rating, such as Southern and it doesn’t penalize you. However, if you play a team that has power rating such as a Division I-A team that has a power rating also, you do get points.”
Although Southern is contractually scheduled to play Allen University on September 4 next season, Kerr said that he would look into moving the game to another date.
Kerr is scheduled to meet with Bertman today at 11 a.m. to open discussions of the possibility of an SU-LSU face off at Tiger Stadium.
