Before Southern executed Marshall Faulkβs vision better than it had all season, the team held a players-only meeting.
Star safety Herman Brister revealed the heart-to-heart talk was a βturning pointβ four days before his teamβs 14-point win over Prairie View, the reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference champions.
βI think guys really listened to each other,β he said at Tuesdayβs media availability. βWe kind of figured out what we needed to be successful, and it kind of showed on the field on Saturday.β
Trey Holly, who leads the Southwestern Athletic Conference in rushing yards (673) and is second in carries (139), said the meeting helped everyone get βon the same page.β
Faulk hopes this newfound clarity among his players holds and helps Southern (3-4, 1-2 SWAC) in its next contest against Texas Southern (1-5, 0-3 ) at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Both programs are coming off bye weeks.
Southernβs first-time coach has acknowledged heβs learning each week how to better prepare his group. This includes holding players to a high standard in all aspects. That has happened through public criticism of special teams performances and player effort, especially in the Jaguarsβ 41-10 homecoming loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Faulk has also enforced his standard through his actions, sidelining several significant players for conduct detrimental to the team in that last defeat and not starting Holly in the first quarter of the season opener due to βdisciplinary reasons.β
As much as Faulk can do as a coach, he said that an impact on a teamβs growth in a year is player-driven. Players must re-emphasize the staffβs message to each other. In the Jaguars case, players are tasked with performing with the fervor of a team with championship aspirations. If a player doesnβt deliver that effort, Faulk expects his players to call that out as much as coaches would.
βThey set the standard based on how they go out,β Faulk said. βIf somebody dips below the standard, you check βem and make sure that they're doing it the way you want them to do it. The players get to set that. Like I want that for them.β
The players-only meeting centered on accountability. Brister, who had 10 tackles and two interceptions against Prairie View, said the goal is to continue making strides to be the βplayer-led teamβ Faulk wants. This includes leadership on and off the field.
βNot only out on the field, (but) the off-the-field issues as well,β Brister said. βThose off-the-field issues affect us on the field as well when we don't have the guys and the bodies that we need to go long games in four quarters.β
Starting quarterback Christian Johnson was one of the players out for Southernβs blowout loss to UAPB due to detrimental conduct. After Prairie View, he lamented his on-field absence and vowed not to miss a game again. Not only does his staff expect better, but his teammates are demanding he, just like everyone else, be responsible for the sake of the program that wants to be successful after a two-win season last year.
Faulk was pleased with the meeting's results, seeing it as meaningful growth for his players in the last five games of the season. Heβs learning to what extent games are a mixture of what his staff preaches throughout a week and what players are able to execute when the whistle blows on Saturdays.
βThe minute that the game starts, I got to stand on the sideline,β Faulk said. βI'm not standing behind them. I can't blow my whistle to stop it. I can't make them run. They have to police each other, and that's what I saw in the game against PV. That's what I saw: accountability with each other. Being able to have your teammate say something to you, and it's not a fight. It's like, okay, I got it. Cool. Let me step up.β