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MONTGOMERY, Ala. -
Mike DuBose learned much of his football philosophy at one of the
most storied Division I football programs in college sports, having
played under Bear Bryant and coached under Gene Stallings -- the
last two men to bring national championships to Alabama.
That philosophy involves winning. It's exactly the mentality DuBose
is trying to instill at Division III Millsaps College, which will
host Huntingdon this weekend.
It's DuBose's first college head coaching job since he headed
the Crimson Tide from 1997-2000 following Stallings' retirement.
After his last days in Tuscaloosa, DuBose went on to spend three
years as a high school coach, leading Luverne High School to state
runner-up finish in 2003, before landing as job as defensive coordinator
at Millsaps prior to the 2005 season.
Now as head coach of the Majors, DuBose inherits a team that won
just seven of its previous 28 games in three seasons under former
coach David Saunders. Thus the greatest challenge is changing the
mentality of the team not only in the locker room but throughout
the campus.
"We're progressing in that area," DuBose said of a program
that has had one winning season since 2001. "But we're still
working on changing the attitudes and raising the expectations.
That goes from the athletes, to the administrators to everyone
who supports the program."
The Majors are coming off a 2-7 season in 2005 that included a
49-27 loss at Huntingdon. On Saturday, the Hawks (1-1) will make
a return trip to Jackson, Miss., to face a DuBose team that may
be thinking about winning, but so far hasn't accomplished it.
Millsaps lost its season opener 52-28 and followed that last weekend
with a 41-38 loss -- both of which came at home.
However, there have been some promising aspects. Quarterback Juan
Joseph passed for 276 yards and three touchdowns last week. Running
back Nick Namias added 111 yards rushing on 21 carries, and wide
receiver/return specialist Chris Jackson returned a kickoff 99
yards for a score.
"Offensively, we played well enough to win last week," DuBose
said, "and, our special teams were all right, but we didn't
do the job on defense.
"We scored
38 points and that ought to be enough points."
In Huntingdon, DuBose sees a program that is well on its way to
establishing that winning mentality, despite being in just its
fourth year of existence. He also anticipates Hawks coach Mike
Turk providing another stern test for his Majors.
"I've known Mike for a long time and know what he likes to
do," DuBose said. "Huntingdon is very fortunate to have
him. They are talented team, and there's no doubt in my mind that
if they were in our conference, they would be one of the favorites
to win it."
That's one of the advantages that DuBose has over the Hawks, who
are an independent. Whereas Millsaps has dropped its first two
games of the season, it can still contend for a Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference championship.
"That's the advantage for us playing teams like Mississippi
College, Louisiana College and Huntingdon at the start of the season," DuBose
said. "These games really help us prepare for our conference
play."
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