... hopefully not just for a visit. Oddly, but because possession is 9/10th of the law, he stands behind the north end zone, not far from the visiting dressing room at Turpin Stadium, on a cloudy and mild November afternoon.
There's no shortage of purple in and around the stadium as the season finale approaches between neighborhood rivals Northwestern and Stephen F. Austin.
Plenty of familiar faces too as SFA has four former Demon assistant coaches, including two former players at NSU, on its coaching staff.
SFA head coach J.C. Harper was the Demons' defensive coordinator in 2002, Scott Stoker's first year as head coach. When Harper left for a job at Western Michigan, Stoker replaced him with NSU's career passing leader, Brad Laird, and taught Laird how to coach defense and the NSU 4-2-5 system during spring practice 2003. Laird was a quick study and helped the Demons win the 2004 SLC championship.
Also on the staff at NSU was former Demon fullback Darren Drago, who coached the defensive line. He migrated across the state line after the 2005 season and is now SFA's defensive coordinator.
The Lumberjacks' offensive line coach, Chris Truax, held the same position at NSU from 2002-05. His family funded a major renovation of the NSU locker room in the 2005 offseason, in memory of his son Christopher, who died in a boating accident on Father's Day 2005. Also on display in the locker room is a framed No. 72 jersey honoring the memory of Christopher Waddell, the redshirt freshman walk-on who would have been going through Senior Day activities today had he not passed away from a heart defect on March 1, 2004.
Doug Ireland, SID
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