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Pete Richardson let go at Southern after 17 years
In the case of Pete Richardson of Southern University, it appears to be a case of 'what have you done for me lately.'
Athletic Director Greg
LaFleur announced Monday that the University has relieved head football
coach Richardson and his staff of their duties effective
immediately. Damon Nivens, offensive line coach, will serve
as interim coach until a replacement is named. Total
compensation for Richardson, who had one year left on a
contract that pays him in excess of $200,000, had not yet
been worked out.
"We sat down and did what was in the best interest of Southern University," said LaFleur. No timetable has been set at this time for bringing in a new coach, although Lafleur added that "the process would begin immediately."
The dean of SWAC head coaches after 17 years leading the Jaguars, Richardson's success as head of the football program has been well documented. Southern had four 11-win seasons and one 12-win season, the 2003 Championship season, in Richardson's tenure. Richardson also won the 1999 SWAC title, the first year after the conference employed an East/West format and played a championship game. Richardson also led the Jags to back-to-back titles in '97, '98 before the championship game was instituted, and its first title in 18 years in his first year at the helm, 1993.
Southern's 30-25 season-ending loss to Texas Southern Saturday, the first loss to TSU since the 2000 season, meant the Jaguars finished 6-5 overall and 3-4 in SWAC play, tied for last with Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the SWAC West Division. This season's finish marked the first time Richardson's squad had finished out of first or second place in the division since 1999.
The TSU loss may have sealed Richardson's fate. Questionable clock management in the game's final minutes led to the defeat. The Jaguars lost their final two games this season including a 31-13 loss to historic and division rival Grambling in the famed Bayou Classic, usually a season-ending match-up that carries a lot of weight with Jaguar fans.
The Jaguars have not won the West Division title and played in the SWAC Championship Game since a 40-35 loss to Alabama State in 2004. Richardson's Jaguars last won the SWAC title in 2003 in a 20-9 win over Alabama State.
Grambling has been to the championship game three times since Southern's last appearance and UAPB once. With the loss to TSU, and Prairie View winning the SWAC West this year, the impression may have been that the Jaguars had fallen to the bottom of the division under Richardson's guidance, heralding the change.
Richardson compiled an overall record of 134 wins and 62 losses in his tenure at Southern, a .683 winning percentage. The 134 wins is second in Southern annals to Jaguar legend A. W. Mumford who posted 176 wins. Richardson has a 176-76-1 career record as a head coach (.696), including a five-year stint at Winston-Salem State where he was 41-14-1.
Richardson's honors include being named the Black Coaches Association's Coach of the Year in 1998, five-time SWAC Coach of the Year (1995, '97, '98, '99 and '03), Atlanta's 100% Wrong Club's Coach of the Year (1995, '97, '98, '99 and '03), Washington D.C.'s Pigskin Club's Coach of the Year (1995, '98 and '03), the Kodak Region IV Coach of the Year (1995) and the Sheridan Broadcasting Network's Coach of the Year (1997 & 2003).
Richardson also had the distinction of being named the 1999 Nokia Sugar Bowl Louisiana Coach of the Year
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