Baton Rouge - Southern University football is gearing up for its first season under the direction of head coach Terrence Graves.

Graves has described himself as a "hands off" style of head coach. He likes to let his coordinators and assistant coaches do their jobs how they choose.

Having that trust in your staff is even more helpful when many of them have also been head coaches before in their careers.

Quarterbacks coach Willie Totten served as the head coach at Mississippi Valley State for seven years. Tight ends coach Fred McNair most recently wrapped up an eight year stint as the head coach of the Alcorn State Braves. Special Teams Coordinator and defensive ends coach Everett Todd spent four years as the head coach of Blinn College. 

Offensive coordinator Mark Frederick has also been an OC for many years at different programs; most recently at Prairie View A&M.

Graves has developed great relationships with each of his assistant coaches and he fully trusts them to help him create a winning team.

He also believes that working with them will make his first year as a head coach go smoother.

"It helps me because this is my first full time gig, and I think that experience, the wisdom, the knowledge, the know how, the not what to do, the sounding board. They do a great job of let me bounce things off to them, or I'll go to them and say, 'Hey, I'm thinking about this. How did you handle this? How did you handle that,' and then a lot of times it's confirmation. So to have that many former head coaches on the staff is awesome," Graves said.

Graves says the team has adjusted well to the changes in the program and he has a lot of confidence in the group he has going into the season.

Southern begins their season in Lake Charles as they face McNeese on Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. That game will be streamed on ESPN+.