A Season to Remember: 2013 Championship Team

The SWAC Championship is a prestigious event between the SWAC East Division and SWAC West Division. In 2013, Head Coach Dawson Odums, Offensive Coordinator Chennis Berry, and Wide Receivers Coach Chris Coleman led Southern to first place in the SWAC West and eventually a SWAC Championship later that year. The significant part is that it was Dawson Odums’ first full year of being a head coach. Coach Odums was 4-5 in partial of a season in 2012. In 2013, Coach Odums was 9-4 overall.
The star quarterback, Dray Joseph, led the league in passing yards, with 3,573 and 30 passing touchdowns. He helped lead the Jaguars to the championship in 2013. The team played in several overtime games against Praire View, Alabama A&M, Alcorn State University, and Jackson State University. The team was 3-1 in those overtime games, including beating Jackson State in double overtime 34-27 in the SWAC Championship. The team was battle-tested in several ways by playing challenging competitors, which made them bring their A-game. Wide receiver Lee Doss and Quarterback Dray Joseph were an unstoppable duo that season, with 1,172 yards and 11 touchdowns between the two. Lenard Tillery finished the season with nearly 800 yards and 9 rushing touchdowns.
Thanks to Dawson Odums for leading us to win the SWAC Championship and continuing to lead us to first and second place in the SWAC West division. In addition, thank you to all the coaches who developed these players into the best version of themselves. Several players from this team went on to have some careers in the NFL, such as Lee Doss, Willie Quinn, and Lenard Tillery. Tillery finished his collegiate career as the SWAC All-Time leader in rushing yards. Southern would go on to appear in 4 more SWAC Championships, but all of them were losses. It has been 10 years since the last SWAC Championship win, and another year will go by as Southern became eliminated after losing to Prairie View earlier this season. We thank the 2013 team for their spectacular contributions and for delivering a championship to the bluff.