The Rotary Club asked Livingstone College football coach Greg Richardson to join its group for breakfast last week and say a few words about the Blue Bears program.
Catawba coach David Bennett joined him at the head table to talk about the Indians.
Bennett does the circuit on a frequent basis. Richardson admits he does not.
And then, he admits why he doesn’t speak that often at these early-bird functions.
“You don’t get asked much when you’re not winning.”
You have to wonder what goes through Richardson’s mind. He has been the head coach at Livingstone for the past two seasons. Two losing seasons. Meanwhile, it has been nothing but Catawba, Catawba, Catawba around here as Bennett’s team has won 22 of 25 games.
In 2000, the two crosstown programs couldn’t have been further apart. While Catawba won its first 11 games, Livingstone lost its first seven. It’s tough enough to take when you’re not winning your conference but then to realize that a school 1.2 miles from you is getting national attention . It can be unbearable.
But Richardson is ready to change all that.
“It has been a very humbling experience for me — Livingstone having two losing seasons in a row,” he said. “Pretty much everywhere I’ve been, I’ve gone into programs that weren’t very good and right away, things happened. We want to win football games but guys like Dave make it hard for me to do so. I have to play him the first game every year.”
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Last year, was the first meeting between the schools in 30 years and Catawba stomped Richardson’s team 49-0.
“David was scurrying around and we didn’t have much time to talk,” Richardson remembers. “He had his game face on and I had my game face on.”
Unfortunately for Richardson, Catawba’ seniors wore a game face that exuded confidence and power.
Livingstone’s freshmen and sophomores wore a game face that showed uncertainty. They were very young and they were dominated.
“Last year will be no indication of what it will be like this year,” Bennett quickly told the audience. “Greg’s got four of his five offensive linemen back and we lost four of our five. We don’t have our pro guys back (defensive stars DeVonte Peterson and Radell Lockhart, now in pro camps). We’ve got nine new starters on offense and six on defense. So the shoe might be on the other foot.”
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It used to be. Bennett remembers when Catawba was floundering to a 2-9 season and Livingstone was building a powerhouse that won two straight CIAA championships and earning bids to two straight Pioneer Bowls.
“Up until a couple of years ago, our programs mirrored each other,” reminded Richardson. “We always had the same kinds of records. I researched our defensive records and they were almost the same as theirs.”
Bennett shakes his head.
“The bad thing for us is that the defensive coordinator they had back when they were really good is coordinating the defense again. That’s Coach Richardson.”
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Richardson tried to oversee the offense last season but said he is going back to his first love — defense. He wants the Blue Bears to crush people defensively, like in the days of Quincy Morgan and Bicardi Ayers — the days when Livingstone did the punishing.
He has also made a commitment to the city. He has recently moved to Salisbury from Charlotte.
And because of a new president, Algeania Freeman, there is a renewed commitment to athletics.
Freeman came from Norfolk State, where she saw what supporting athletics can do for the morale of the student body and the athletes.
And her enthusiasm has done wonders for the head coach too.
“She’s done very good things and she has done them very quickly,” Richardson said with a smile. “She has presented a lot of energy. As coaches and administrators, we’re trying to match that energy.
“In football, that has been tough because it caused me not to have any vacation,” he added, drawing laughs from the crowd. “But you do what you have to do to make things happen.”
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Livingstone was picked last in the CIAA preseason poll but Richardson says, “We always pick ourselves last.”
But he also has his quarterback returning in sophomore Joel Ward and the defensive rookie of the year in linebacker Jason Ocean.
“We’re only going to have four seniors,” he said. “The bulk of our players are still freshmen and sophomores.”
Freshmen and sophomores that believe in Richardson.
“Are they academically sound? Are they going to be good character kids? Are they going to have that winning attitude? Those are the kids we want,” he said. “This is the first time in quite a while we didn’t have a lot of kids in summer school, which means kids are meeting the standards we’ve set.”
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Greg Richardson isn’t used to losing. And he will not accept it. Especially when all he hears is Catawba, Catawba, Catawba.
This year, he — and Bennett — is convinced the comeback begins.
“You take it easy on us, Greg,” Bennett said.
A few listeners chuckled but Bennett remained firm.
“I’m not real smart — but I’m not real dumb either. We’re not going to be able to win 11 games every year. And Greg is going to turn their program around.”
And when it happens, perhaps this season, Richardson can count on his breakfast schedule being as full as Bennett’s.
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4256 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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