Report: Rams talk to Mitchell
Stump Mitchell came to Southern University with big dreams and big goals, vowing to bring the Jaguars football program back to the top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Now, after six wins in two years, he might be on his way out.
According to a report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mitchell interviewed Monday with the St. Louis Rams and is a candidate to become their running backs coach.
The newspaper, citing anonymous sources, said Mitchell met with new head coach Jeff Fisher and members of the staff, and that the interview went well.
What’s unclear at the moment, however, is whether the Rams actually offered Mitchell a job.
Attempts to reach Mitchell were unsuccessful Monday night.
Asked last week if he were considering other jobs, Mitchell said he was happy to be at Southern and believes his team can win this season.
But he also added: “Unfortunately, things change from second to second, minute to minute, day to day. A lot of (coaches) that have gotten hired at other places — coordinators at (Division) I schools, two weeks later, they’re back in the NFL. So you just never know. You just never know. That’s the coaching profession. All I know is that I’m glad to be here today.”
Mitchell was a fan favorite in St. Louis for seven years as a 5-foot-9, 188-pound tailback and kick returner for the Cardinals, who moved to Phoenix in 1988.
A ninth-round draft pick from The Citadel who wasn’t supposed to make the cut, Mitchell finished as the second-leading rusher in franchise history with 4,649 yards.
Mitchell also spent 11 seasons as an NFL assistant coach before he took over at Southern in 2010.
He was running backs coach under Mike Holmgren at Seattle from 1999-2007, then spent two seasons as assistant head coach and running backs coach with the Washington Redskins, serving under Jim Zorn.
That’s where Mitchell was in late 2009, after SU fired Pete Richardson after 17 years and launched its search for his successor.
In looking for candidates, then-athletic director Greg LaFleur stumbled onto Mitchell while watching a Dec. 6, 2009, game between the Redskins and the New Orleans Saints.
LaFleur played with Mitchell in St. Louis from 1981-86, and he called to ask if Mitchell might be interested in the Southern job.
Mitchell said yes.
LaFleur identified three lead candidates — including Mitchell; Heishma Northern, then the defensive coordinator at Prairie View; and Darrell Asberry, then the head coach at Division II Shaw University.
During the search, Doug Williams — then an executive with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — also met with Tony Clayton, a member of the SU System Board of Supervisors.
Ultimately, LaFleur recommended Mitchell, who accepted the job offer Jan. 13, 2010. The Board of Supervisors approved his contract a month later.
All of the other three candidates are new head coaches in the SWAC.
Northern, a Baton Rouge native and former SU safety, was promoted to head coach at Prairie View, where he went 5-6 in his first season.
Asberry, also a Baton Rouge native who played at Southern Lab, was hired at Texas Southern this offseason.
And Williams returned to his alma mater, Grambling, and led the Tigers to the SWAC championship this season.
As for Mitchell, he made a bold prediction before his first season at Southern, saying he believed his team could go undefeated and win the black college national championship. Instead, the Jaguars went 2-9 for the first time in school history.
The Jaguars went 4-7 last season, losing four games by five or fewer points.
Mitchell enters the third and final guaranteed year of his contract with Southern, which pays him $200,000 annually.