McTailGator
July 23rd, 2006, 03:51 PM
Keasler, Joseph headed to McNeese Hall of Fame (7/23)
By GARY LANEY
Lake Charles American Press :hurray:
McNeese State's string of football success can be traced back to 1990 and the hiring of Bobby Keasler as head coach.
By his second season in 1991, Keasler had brought McNeese its first Southland Conference championship of the Division I-AA era. By the end of his nine years as head coach, Keasler's Cowboys had four SLC championships, seven I-AA playoff berths and a trip to the national title game.
This season, McNeese's Sports Hall of Fame is making its first nod to that era by selecting Keasler and quarterback Kerry Joseph, perhaps the player most identified with the success of the Keasler years, to be inducted into the hall on Sept. 9.
The class, which also features baseball pitcher Mike Coker, women's basketball star Tangela McAllister and golfer Doug Farr, was announced Saturday. The induction ceremony will at halftime of McNeese's football home opener against West Virginia Tech.
Keasler compiled a 78-34-2 record in nine seasons as head coach from 1990-98. He is the school's winningest coach. Joseph, Keasler's quarterback from 1992-95 is the school's all-time leading passer (7,847 yards) and total yards leader (9,674 yards). He's the first football player who played under Keasler to be named to the school's hall of fame.
"It's a great honor," said Joseph Saturday as he prepared for a Canadian Football League game as quarterback of the Saskatchewan Roughriders against Ricky Williams' Toronto Argonauts. "To go in with the person who inspired me to excel is even greater."
Joseph was under center for the winningest four-year stretch in school history. His teams went 42-11, won two conference championships, reached the playoffs all four years and went 11-0 in 1995's regular season, advancing to the I-AA semifinals where the Cowboys lost to Chad Pennington and Marshall to end a 13-1 season.
"My greatest memories are from 1995," Joseph said. "That was a great year, going 11-0. There was the James Madison game, the game with Central Florida and Daunte Culpepper, great memories."
Joseph engineered a come-from-behind 30-24 win over JMU in the only game of the regular season when the Cowboys were seriously challenged. Culpepper's Central Florida team took a 49-7 whipping in Lake Charles.
The Cowboys were dominant for most of the season, battering Idaho (33-3) and Delaware (52-18) in the playoffs before Marshall denied McNeese its first I-AA title game appearance with a 25-13 win on an icy cold day at Cowboy Stadium in Joseph's last game.
Even in defeat, Joseph produced a memorable highlight, scrambling for a 50-yard touchdown run against the Thundering Herd, a play that captured the athleticism that was his calling card.
A former prep javelin state champion, Joseph created highlights regularly with his arm strength and his footspeed, routinely firing 50-yard bombs at the end of mad scrambles.
But it wasn't Joseph's talents alone that made the Keasler era a success. Keasler, who like Joseph came from New Iberia, led an overachieving 1991 team to a conference championship while Joseph was going through a redshirt year. After Joseph's career was complete, Keasler guided the 1997 team to Chattanooga, where the Cowboys lost the national championship game 10-9 to Youngstown State.
Joseph recalled Keasler as a man who commanded respect from his players and gave it back to his team in return.
"He was the reason I came to McNeese," Joseph said. "I remember on our visit, I was so impressed by him and my parents were so impressed by him. He valued what we valued."
Joseph was hardly the only big-name player to come through McNeese in Keasler's years. Safety Zack Bronson, now an assistant coach under current head coach Tommy Tate, linebacker Terry Irving and defensive end Kavika Pittman all went on to solid NFL careers.
Joseph said Saturday that he hopes this induction helps open the floodgates for others from his era.
"These guys helped build McNeese's program to what it is," Joseph said. "It's great to see guys like Zack and Adam (Henry) on the coaching staff now."
McNeese continued its success after the Joseph and Keasler era. Tate led McNeese back to Chattanooga in 2002, part of back-to-back 10-1 regular seasons.
But the Tate teams still draw a connection to the Keasler teams. Tate was Keasler's secondary coach. Assistants Henry, Bronson, Carlos McGee, Delphfrine Lee and Jason Rollins played under Keasler as did past assistant Lance Guidry, the defensive coordinator on the 2002 team.
Joseph said he enjoys the program's continued success.
"I take a lot of pride in the success they've had," Joseph said. "It's good to see them carrying the success on."
Success has been a mixed bag for Keasler and Joseph since their careers ended.
Keasler returned to Louisiana-Monroe as head coach, compiling a 8-28 record, resigning after an 0-3 start to the 2002 season (That 3rd loss of that season, was against McNeese).
Joseph has not been able to realize his dream of being an NFL quarterback, but has made himself into an elite player in the CFL.
He was a quarterback on the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad in 1996, was moved to running back by the Washington Redskins in 1997 then played four seasons as a safety for the Seattle Seahawks from 1998-2001.
He was released by Seattle in 2002, then finally got his chance to play quarterback again in 2003 when he became the starter for Ottawa of the CFL. Ottawa's franchise folded after the 2005 season and he became the first pick of the subsequent Ottawa Player Dispersal Draft.
Entering this season, Joseph had passed for 10,922 yards in three CFL seasons, while rushing for 2,040. In 2005, he became the third quarterback in league history to pass for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
"It would be great to get to the NFL," Joseph said. "But right now, I'm happy where I'm at."
By GARY LANEY
Lake Charles American Press :hurray:
McNeese State's string of football success can be traced back to 1990 and the hiring of Bobby Keasler as head coach.
By his second season in 1991, Keasler had brought McNeese its first Southland Conference championship of the Division I-AA era. By the end of his nine years as head coach, Keasler's Cowboys had four SLC championships, seven I-AA playoff berths and a trip to the national title game.
This season, McNeese's Sports Hall of Fame is making its first nod to that era by selecting Keasler and quarterback Kerry Joseph, perhaps the player most identified with the success of the Keasler years, to be inducted into the hall on Sept. 9.
The class, which also features baseball pitcher Mike Coker, women's basketball star Tangela McAllister and golfer Doug Farr, was announced Saturday. The induction ceremony will at halftime of McNeese's football home opener against West Virginia Tech.
Keasler compiled a 78-34-2 record in nine seasons as head coach from 1990-98. He is the school's winningest coach. Joseph, Keasler's quarterback from 1992-95 is the school's all-time leading passer (7,847 yards) and total yards leader (9,674 yards). He's the first football player who played under Keasler to be named to the school's hall of fame.
"It's a great honor," said Joseph Saturday as he prepared for a Canadian Football League game as quarterback of the Saskatchewan Roughriders against Ricky Williams' Toronto Argonauts. "To go in with the person who inspired me to excel is even greater."
Joseph was under center for the winningest four-year stretch in school history. His teams went 42-11, won two conference championships, reached the playoffs all four years and went 11-0 in 1995's regular season, advancing to the I-AA semifinals where the Cowboys lost to Chad Pennington and Marshall to end a 13-1 season.
"My greatest memories are from 1995," Joseph said. "That was a great year, going 11-0. There was the James Madison game, the game with Central Florida and Daunte Culpepper, great memories."
Joseph engineered a come-from-behind 30-24 win over JMU in the only game of the regular season when the Cowboys were seriously challenged. Culpepper's Central Florida team took a 49-7 whipping in Lake Charles.
The Cowboys were dominant for most of the season, battering Idaho (33-3) and Delaware (52-18) in the playoffs before Marshall denied McNeese its first I-AA title game appearance with a 25-13 win on an icy cold day at Cowboy Stadium in Joseph's last game.
Even in defeat, Joseph produced a memorable highlight, scrambling for a 50-yard touchdown run against the Thundering Herd, a play that captured the athleticism that was his calling card.
A former prep javelin state champion, Joseph created highlights regularly with his arm strength and his footspeed, routinely firing 50-yard bombs at the end of mad scrambles.
But it wasn't Joseph's talents alone that made the Keasler era a success. Keasler, who like Joseph came from New Iberia, led an overachieving 1991 team to a conference championship while Joseph was going through a redshirt year. After Joseph's career was complete, Keasler guided the 1997 team to Chattanooga, where the Cowboys lost the national championship game 10-9 to Youngstown State.
Joseph recalled Keasler as a man who commanded respect from his players and gave it back to his team in return.
"He was the reason I came to McNeese," Joseph said. "I remember on our visit, I was so impressed by him and my parents were so impressed by him. He valued what we valued."
Joseph was hardly the only big-name player to come through McNeese in Keasler's years. Safety Zack Bronson, now an assistant coach under current head coach Tommy Tate, linebacker Terry Irving and defensive end Kavika Pittman all went on to solid NFL careers.
Joseph said Saturday that he hopes this induction helps open the floodgates for others from his era.
"These guys helped build McNeese's program to what it is," Joseph said. "It's great to see guys like Zack and Adam (Henry) on the coaching staff now."
McNeese continued its success after the Joseph and Keasler era. Tate led McNeese back to Chattanooga in 2002, part of back-to-back 10-1 regular seasons.
But the Tate teams still draw a connection to the Keasler teams. Tate was Keasler's secondary coach. Assistants Henry, Bronson, Carlos McGee, Delphfrine Lee and Jason Rollins played under Keasler as did past assistant Lance Guidry, the defensive coordinator on the 2002 team.
Joseph said he enjoys the program's continued success.
"I take a lot of pride in the success they've had," Joseph said. "It's good to see them carrying the success on."
Success has been a mixed bag for Keasler and Joseph since their careers ended.
Keasler returned to Louisiana-Monroe as head coach, compiling a 8-28 record, resigning after an 0-3 start to the 2002 season (That 3rd loss of that season, was against McNeese).
Joseph has not been able to realize his dream of being an NFL quarterback, but has made himself into an elite player in the CFL.
He was a quarterback on the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad in 1996, was moved to running back by the Washington Redskins in 1997 then played four seasons as a safety for the Seattle Seahawks from 1998-2001.
He was released by Seattle in 2002, then finally got his chance to play quarterback again in 2003 when he became the starter for Ottawa of the CFL. Ottawa's franchise folded after the 2005 season and he became the first pick of the subsequent Ottawa Player Dispersal Draft.
Entering this season, Joseph had passed for 10,922 yards in three CFL seasons, while rushing for 2,040. In 2005, he became the third quarterback in league history to pass for 4,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.
"It would be great to get to the NFL," Joseph said. "But right now, I'm happy where I'm at."