One Southern coaching position with some mystery heading into spring practice was special teams coordinator.
Even before practice Wednesday, there was no special teams coach listed under the coaching staff tab on the Southern athletics site.
Coach Marshall Faulk dispelled any confusion that exists and spoke about Southern special teams coach Cam Rodgers and how he came to Baton Rouge. The Tampa, Florida, native brings with him experience coaching at the NAIA, Division II and Division III levels. He most recently was the defensive coordinator at Tampa Catholic High School.
A reason for the lack of public understanding about the special teams coordinator job was because Faulk initially hired someone else who decided to coach at a different school.
“He got hired from underneath us,” Faulk said about his first choice for the position. “And when that happens, you know, it kind of puts you in flux. And I interviewed maybe four different guys, and it just wasn't a fit for what we wanted.”
The person who ended up being the right fit was Rodgers, who has been with Southern since Feb. 15. While this is his first job at the Division I level, he was highly thought of by a trusted voice, Faulk said. The first-year Southern coach wouldn't name who recommended Rodgers, but he shared that the person has experience coaching in the NFL and college.
“A good friend of mine who's really good at coaching special teams,” Faulk said. “(Rodgers) came highly recommended because (Rodgers) mentored under him. And because he hasn't given me the right to drop his name to say that he's helping us out — he's coached in the NFL, coached in college, he's been all around. He's a mentor to Cam, and so Cam came highly recommended to us.”
Rodgers was a defensive back at Florida Atlantic from 2001-04. He played in 44 games and accumulated 124 tackles, four interceptions, 19 pass breakups and two forced fumbles in his college career.
He coached at Chamberlain High, his former high school, working with the wide receivers and defensive backs from 2015-18. Rodgers moved to the college level in 2019, coaching defensive backs at Division III Trinity International in Illinois.
After one season, he joined the staff of Division II Midwestern State in Texas as a graduate assistant, assisting with defensive backs for a year. He was then an offensive analyst helping with running backs at Division II Albany State in Georgia.
Faulk also said that the second week of spring practice does not necessarily begin a new phase of preparation. He said that he wants his team to continue to “stack good practices on top of good practices.”
When asked whether there is a side of the football that is doing better so far, Faulk said that “defense will always have an advantage” at this stage. He did expound on how the team’s progression in practice isn’t linear and how that’s not an issue.
“I think on both sides of the ball, from zero practice two Mondays ago to now, we've shown some progress,” Faulk said. “But you got to be truthful, we've taken a couple steps back. But what I do like is I like that the kids are committed to doing it right. They're getting out there to compete, and they're getting from drill to drill the way we want them to.”