Marquis Smith has seen the smiles.
They’re obvious on the faces of his teammates and other students around Savannah State’s campus.
Two consecutive wins for a total of three this season doesn’t seem like much. But they have boosted the morale and transformed attitudes throughout a program that had a total of five victories in the past six years.
“It’s an amazing feeling. It’s been a long time,” said Smith, a senior defensive end who is in his fifth season at Savannah State. “I haven’t been successful through my whole football career really. Even in high school, I wasn’t successful. It’s a really good feeling to have. Words can’t describe how good of a feeling this is.”
The Tigers (3-4, 3-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) hadn’t won more than one game in a season since 2009 and before this season, had won only seven of their past 77 games since going 5-7 in 2008.
In the spring, Erik Raeburn was hired from Wabash College, a Division III program, where he went 78-13 from 2008-15. He also played and was an assistant at Mount Union, which has won 12 Division III national titles since 1993.
Raeburn is Savannah State’s fifth coach since 2008.
“I think the guys are buying in,” he said. “The big reason was the seniors bought in. They made a decision to buy into what we’re doing in the hopes we could turn the corner. When those guys bought in, the other guys (didn’t have) much of a choice than do the same.”
Smith was part of a group of players who watched Raeburn and other job candidates give presentations as part of the interview process. He knew Raeburn was the right person.
“It was his mindset from the first interview,” said Smith, who leads Savannah State with 8.5 sacks, including six in the past three games. “We knew he had the quality that it takes to win.”
Savannah State lost its first two games under Raeburn — to Georgia Southern and Southern Miss — by a combined 110-0, but then defeated Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 24.
After two more losses, freshman quarterback T.J. Bell (Jefferson County) threw a touchdown pass with 19 seconds left to beat Howard 31-27 on Oct. 29.
The Tigers then defeated 31-14 Norfolk State last week for their first two-win season since 2009.
Savannah State’s location was one of the reasons he pursued the opportunity.
“We’re in a great area for high school football,” Raeburn said.
He’s also working on changing the program’s mindset, which has been one of his bigger obstacles.
“Because we haven’t won very many games in the past, there was a — I don’t want to say a black cloud — there was a negative attitude surrounding our program,” Raeburn said. “Our guys had very little confidence. They didn’t feel like people respected them. They felt like they were the butt of some jokes around campus. That was the biggest challenge that we’ve had, to build our players’ confidence and change everybody’s perception of our program.”
Saturday’s games
Savannah State at Hampton, 1 p.m.
West Georgia at West Florida, 1 p.m.
Berry at Centre, 1:30 p.m.
Reinhardt at Bethel, 1:30 p.m.
Mercer at Samford, 3:30 p.m.
Shorter at Valdosta State, 7 p.m.
Fort Valley State vs. Kentucky State, SIAC Championship (Montgomery, Ala.), 7 p.m.
Savannah State’s win total since 2009
2016: 3-4
2015: 1-9
2014: 0-12
2013: 1-11
2012: 1-10
2011: 1-10
2010: 1-10
2009: 2-8
2008: 5-7
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