FORWARD: Centenary Football

FORWARD:

The Third Century Campaign for Centenary College of Louisiana

Re-establishment of NCAA Football

Notable Gents of the 1920s and 1930s

December 1894 Earliest known mention of Centenary football, a 32-0 loss to LSU (“Football,” Daily Picayune, New Orleans)

Homer Norton Head Coach, 1919-21 and 1926-33 Left Centenary to coach Texas A&M

October 1908 Earliest reference to Centenary football in Shreveport (“Centenary will play football,” Shreveport Times)

Bo McMillin Head Coach, 1921-24 Went on to coach both the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL

November 1919 Centenary Ironsides are “undisputed L.I.A.A. champs”

Cal Hubbard

(Shreveport Times)

Player, 1922-25 Only person in both Pro Football Hall of Fame and National Baseball Hall of Fame

Fall 1922 Team name changes from Ironsides to Gentlemen

Undefeated Seasons • 1927

• 1932

• 1933

1932 New football stadium dedicated

1939 Centenary sets punt record (77) with Texas Tech

December 1941 Football and all inter-collegiate athletic activities suspended “for the duration of the war emergency”

Fall 1947

gocentenary.com

Football revived for one season, with games played at

“ We are very excited about the future

November 2021

and believe that this decision will result in positive growth all across the

Fair Grounds Stadium in Shreveport

Return of football announced

College, not only in athletics.”

Archer Frierson

March 2022

Board of Trustees Chairman

Byron Dawson hired as head coach

CENTENARY FOOTBALL HISTORY During the 1920s and 1930s, Centenary was a terror among the powers in college football. Under outstanding coaches such as Bo McMillan, Homer Norton, and Curtis Parker, and with many equally outstanding players, Centenary’s football team enjoyed numerous undefeated seasons and brought valuable attention to the school in the process. Famously in 1932, the Centenary / LSU game was played to a packed crowd at Centenary Stadium (where the current baseball stadium is located).

Among those in attendance was Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long, who was responsible for building LSU’s athletic program at the same time Centenary’s president, Dr. George S. Sexton, was building Centenary’s. Centenary won, 7-6, to remain undefeated on the season.

A shortage of male students during WWII followed by the post-war removal of the football stadium and soaring expenses brought about the end of football at Centenary in 1948.

A Bright Future Following an extensive study by the Football Task Force and a committee of administration, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members, it was determined that the reintroduction of football, at the NCAA Division III level, would be a net positive for the College, especially in increased enrollment:

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Enrollment/Roster

0

50

75

100

Tuition Revenue

$0

$561,435

$881,153

$1,168,226

Room and Board

$0

$519,809

$794,996

$1,080,421

Projected Student Revenue

$0

$1,081,244

$1,676,149

$2,248,647

Expenses

$304,882

$527,663

$527,663

$527,663

Contribution Margin

0.0

2.0

3.2

4.3

Net Revenue Earned

$(304,882)

$553,581

$1,148,486

$1,720,984

Additionally, key input from the athletic directors of cohort colleges that play football – Trinity, Washington and Lee, Hendrix, Texas Lutheran, Austin, and ETBU – was universal in the positive impact football had made on their respective campuses, including a huge and positive impact in fundraising, the opportunity to engage the larger community, and peripheral enrollment gains through band, cheer squad, and dance teams.

FORWARD • 3

Head Football Coach

Byron Dawson Former Evangel and LSU star Byron Dawson was named head football coach at Centenary College.

Dawson in March 2022. A Shreveport native, Dawson was chosen following a national search and will lead the program when the Gents return to the field in the fall of 2024 after five decades without the sport on campus.

Dawson is one of the most recognizable names in local football at any level. He put together an impressive high school career at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport, where he was selected as the USA Today High School All American Defensive MVP for Louisiana, named Class 3A All-State and Defensive MVP, and helped lead Evangel to a 15-0 record in 1997, three state championships, and a No. 17 national ranking, among other accolades.

FORWARD • 4

Dawson is a graduate of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge where he was a four-year letterman on the LSU defensive line, recording 86 tackles and four sacks while playing for Nick Saban, Pete Jenkins, Will Muschamp, Karl Dunbar, and Bo Davis. Dawson was part of LSU’s nationallyranked defense during the 2001 season, during which the Tigers upset Tennessee to win the SEC Championship and then defeated Illinois in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

He started his coaching career at Redemptorist High School in Baton Rouge before returning home to an impressive 15-year coaching tenure at his high school alma mater, Evangel. During his time as defensive line coach, defensive coordinator, and eventually head coach, Dawson led Evangel to a state championship and national rankings; garnered Coach of the Year honors at the city, state, and national level; and coached 10 NFL players, including 2019 first round draft pick Jerry Tillery.

In March of 2020, Dawson joined the Tulane University football staff as defensive line coach, where he made an immediate impact and was a finalist for FootballScoop’s 2020 National Defensive Line Coach of the Year. Along with helping lead a defense that was #2 in the AAC in sacks per game (2.8) and #6 in rushing yards allowed in 2021, he recruited seven highly touted defensive linemen

“ I believe that this is a great opportunity to bring college football to Shreveport-Bossier.

This is a unique and special moment for me: to be a head coach on the college level and to do it in the city that I love. ShreveportBossier needs college football and we will give our local student athletes an option to play college football at home. To lay the foundation for a program at a great school like Centenary is exciting.”

to the Tulane squad and mentored two NFL draft picks.

While at Tulane, Dawson was selected for the NFL’s highly competitive Bill Walsh Coaching Fellowship Program with the Los Angeles Rams as a defensive line coaching intern. Under the leadership of Defensive Line Coach

- BYRON DAWSON Centenary Football Head Coach

Eric Henderson of the Los Angeles Rams, Dawson had the opportunity to learn at the highest level of football, obtaining extensive knowledge from several notable NFL coaches.

Coach Dawson has hit the ground running, with 16 football players already on campus and an anticipated 50-70 more next year.

FORWARD • 5

INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES The Football Task Force Committee has determined the capital expenditure estimate to get football up and running at Centenary is $6.35 million. Capital investments include upgrading the current field to accommodate football, a new practice field, field house and locker rooms, press box, increased seating capacity, upgraded scoreboard and concessions, and a new entry plaza.

Operational expenditures are estimated at $527,663 per year, which is based on the Southern Athletic Association conference average.

New Athletic Plaza/Field Entryway

New Field House/Locker Rooms/Coaches’ Offices

FORWARD • 6

Concessions Area

Updated Stadium and New Practice Field

FORWARD • 7

Please consider one of the following opportunities to invest in the return of football to Centenary!

NAMING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE Practice Field

$1,750,000

Field House

$1,100,000

Entry Plaza

$1,000,000

New Digital Scoreboard

$500,000

Press Box

$750,000

Increased Seating/Grandstand

$500,000

Football Locker Rooms (3) @ $50,000 each

$150,000

Coaches’ Offices in the new Field House (3) @ $25,000 each

$75,000

SUSTAINING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE Gent Sustainers

$10,000

Maroon & White Society

$5,000

Fourth Quarter Club

$1,000

“For more than 120 years, athletics has been an important part of the student experience at Centenary College. We haven’t played football here for quite some time, but the wait is over.”

DR. CHRISTOPHER L. HOLOMAN Centenary College President

2911 Centenary Boulevard • Shreveport, Louisiana 71104 • centenary.edu