Southeastern Louisiana deals with Isaac before opener
HAMMOND — Call it a baptism by fire for Southeastern Louisiana University football coach Ron Roberts.
The Lions are already preparing for Saturday’s 6 p.m. season opener at Southeastern Conference newcomer Missouri, and now there’s the matter of contending with Isaac at the same time.
“I don’t think this is in (the) Coaching 101 manual,” Roberts said Tuesday morning while taking a break during practice. “They don’t cover the ‘what do you do in case of a hurricane’ bit. There’s always something there to test you. You’ve just got to deal with it and not let it be too much of a distraction.
“We’re probably going to miss a day of preparation, obviously (Wednesday), but again, we’ve just got to adapt with it and overcome.”
Roberts said his main concern is the safety of his players.
“That’s the No. 1 thing,” Roberts said. “You recruit these young men, and we’ve got a lot of freshmen in here, and we’ve got the parents worried and want to make sure they’re safe. We’ve got kids, that if they don’t have a location, we’re going to house them probably at the (University Center) or the kinesiology building tonight. The ones that are close enough to go home, that’s why we’re practicing this morning, so they can ride and go home.”
Roberts said the team plans on traveling Friday to Columbia, Mo.
“I don’t think it’s going to keep us off track of our original plans on Thursday and Friday, as long is doesn’t hang there in the Gulf,” he said.
Depth chart update
SLU’s depth chart heading into the Missouri game has Nathan Stanley starting at quarterback, along with Ponchatoula’s Michael Chaney ahead of Springfield’s Zeke Jones at running back.
At receiver, Stanley Moore is the starter at X and Tony McCrea the starter at Z.
Also, former St. Michael the Archangel standout Jeremy Meyers is the team’s No. 2 tight end behind Hunter Craven.
Former Amite standout Juwaan Rogers is listed behind LaTruan Weary at running back in the team’s secondary offensive set.
Former West Feliciana standout Gasten Gabriel is the starter at right guard.
Defensively, former Glen Oaks standout Tramaine Lucas is the starter at nose tackle, while former Catholic High standout Devan Walker is the starter at left outside linebacker, backed up by former St. Michael the Archangel standout John Roberts.
Ponchatoula’s Kaleb Muse and former Oak Forest standout Drew Misita are the starter and backup, respectively, at middle linebacker.
In the secondary, the starting safeties are John Graves (Lion), Tyler Stoddard (free safety) and Marice Sutton (Ram).
Roberts radio show
“The Ron Roberts Radio Show” is broadcast every Monday at 7 p.m. on KSLU-FM, 90.9 in Hammond and on the Internet at LionSports.net from Tope La’ Restaurant in downtown Hammond.
Fans are encouraged to ask questions during the live show and are able to submit questions online at LionSports.net during the program’s “Ask the Coach” segment.