Grambling heads to Cajun Country
Mickey Joseph will make his head coaching debut at Grambling State in the Tigers’ season opener at Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday. Photo by GSU Athletics
GRAMBLING – The Mickey Joseph era of Grambling State football kicks off this weekend as the Tigers begin their 2024 season at Louisiana-Lafayette.
After an offseason of staff and roster changes, Joseph is ready to hit the field with the G-Men on Saturday to begin a mission to restore order to the once contending program. It will take time, but Joseph knows every opportunity the Tigers get to play comes with a standard to uphold and a winning culture to play for. That includes Saturday in a hostile, Sun Belt environment on the road.
“I understood when I took this job that this is a pressure cooker, that they expect to win here at Grambling, no matter who is sitting in the chair, that they want to win,” Joseph said. “But also, we had to get the structure back within the program and I think so far, we’re doing a better job with the coaches and players and everybody in the program getting on the same page. I tell people this, ‘For you to win a championship, everybody’s got to pull on the same side of the rope.’ That starts in administration and all the way down to the athletic department. I think we can get this thing back on track because there’s enough talent out there for everybody.”
Grambling will be led by returning starting quarterback Myles Crawley, the Preseason SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, who threw for over 2,300 yards and 16 touchdowns last fall. He’ll command an offense that’s been reshaped by the transfer portal, with the only returning weapon at his side being 2023 SWAC Freshman of the Year Javon Robinson at wideout.
Beyond that, it’s a new running back room made up of Memphis transfer and former Ruston High standout Ke’Travion Hargrove, Ole Miss transfer Jaden Handy, LSU transfer Tre Bradford, and true freshman Tony Phillips. At receiver, it’ll be a combination of Jalen Johnson ( McNeese State), Jacoby Bellazar (Mississippi State), and Patrick Williams (Arizona State) to try to make a name for themselves.
Joseph won’t let the excuse of Saturday being the first game factor into his game evaluation. If the Tigers aren’t competing at the level he demands, he’ll make changes anywhere.
“I’m a guy, I put you on a short leash. If you don’t get it done, I get you out of there right away before you hurt us,” Joseph said. “Our kids understand that, so we’re looking to play multiple players because we have a lot of new faces in here. We want to see exactly what they can do. You don’t know until you put them out there.”
As for what he expects out of his All- SWAC quarterback, Joseph wants Crawley to play within the system, make smart decisions, and trust his athleticism when situations become dicey.
He can tell a tangible difference in Crawley’s approach to the game from when he first got to the program in late December.
“We have a good quarterback,” Joseph said. “But you gotta understand with Myles, you take your hat off to him, Myles is in his third system in four years. So, it’s about Myles challenging himself and making sure he’s making the right decisions and he’s taking care of the football. We’re excited where Myles is at right now. Myles is a different quarterback than when we met him. He’s a better quarterback now than when we met him.”
Joseph’s attention will be on his own team’s play come Saturday night, but he had plenty of high praise for ULL’s talent and experience at all levels. “(Michael Desormeaux) does a really good job with them. They have a lot of stability as far as wins. They’ve been in the postseason the last couple years. They’re a well-coached football team,” Joseph said. “ They’re really strong up front. They’re 11- 12 personnel. They want to run the football, and they want to play-action you. They have some really good players.”
GSU shouldn’t be thrown off guard by the environment at ULL after recent matchups with LSU, Southern Miss, and Houston in recent years. And Joseph knows the in-state nature of the matchup will only help players’ intensity level.
“The advantage of playing a team like Lafayette and being instate, these kids know each other and played against each other. It won’t be any intimidation factor,” Joseph said. “ We want to compete, and we want to play hard, and we want to see where we’re at.”
Grambling State and ULL square off Saturday at 7 p.m. at Cajun Field in Lafayette. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
