This editorial reflects the general opinion of The Spectator staff. 

VSU Football has one of the richest histories in Division II. The Blazers have enjoyed 11 Gulf South Conference Championships and seven national championship appearances in school history, with their most recent trip coming just this last season in 2024. However, despite their success, the Blazers haven’t been able to retain a coach for more than three seasons. 

At the press conference following the Blazers’ loss in the National Championship game in December, head coach Tremaine Jackson announced that he would leave VSU to take the head coaching job at Division One’s Prairie View. This marks the third head coach leaving the Blazers for greener pastures at the next level. Many students are beginning to notice this alarming trend.  

The Blazers can claim five national championships; however, they have had four different head coaches lead them: Chris Hatcher, David Dean Kerwin Bell, and Gary Goff. That doesn’t include coaches like Kerwin Bell, Gary Goff, and Tremaine Jackson, who made it to national championship games but fell short of bringing home the championship.  

Out of the coaches, they all have a common theme: they all left for Division I; Chris Hatcher and David Dean left for Georgia Southern in 2006 and 2016, respectively.  

Although Kerwin Bell would be the offensive coordinator for Division I South Florida after VSU won a national championship in 2018, he would join in that trend. Gary Goff left VSU in 2021 after the Blazers national championship loss, and Tremaine Jackson followed suit in December. The Blazers would name-promote assistant Trent Early as their interim head coach; however, he left to follow Jackson at Prairie View just a few weeks later.  

On January 20th, Valdosta State announced that offensive coordinator Graham Craig would be Named Head Coach. This is a belief that the newly minted coach will be a stepping stone to another Head Coaching job at the Division One level. Many see the recent track record of retaining their head coach past their third season as alarming. Each of the past three head coaches has only been at VSU for three years or less.  

Compared to other schools with the same levels of success, Ferris State, which has won three national championships in the last four seasons, has maintained its coach, who is heading into his 13th season as the head coach.  

VSU has been known as a head coach hotbed, based on where division-one programs look to VSU for the following head coaches. That even extended to Basketball as former women’s head coach Deandra Schumer left for division one; however, she was in Titletown for 7 seasons prior.  

As the Blazers head into their 45 season on the Gridiron, time will tell if Graham Craig will be either a short-term fit or a long-term solution.  

Photo courtesy of VSU Flickr.