Timing is crucial in the game of football.
Grambling State’s football team was reminded of that the hard way when offensive coordinator Shyrone Carey announced Tuesday that he was leaving the program only two to three weeks before the start of preseason practice.
Now Grambling head coach Mickey Joseph is faced with finding offensive coaching help — and in a hurry.
That brings up the question of whether it’s time for former Grambling quarterback great Bruce Eugene to return to “The G” to help.
The timing seems right to me. Like Joseph, Eugene is a New Orleans native. Joseph was a standout at Archbishop Shaw on the Crescent City’s West Bank, while Eugene starred at Cohen High School in the heart of the Big Easy.
As I said, the timing just feels right, all things considered. And during Wednesday’s Southwestern Athletic Conference Football Media Day in Birmingham, Alabama, Joseph admitted it is a possibility.
“He’s one of the names we’re talking to,” Joseph said. “We have three or four names we’re talking to. Bruce is a very bright guy. He played at Grambling and is at Syracuse right now. So, we’ll have this thing cleared up by next week for sure.”
Nicknamed “The Round Mound of Touchdown” because of his 6-foot-1, 260-plus-pound frame, Eugene led Grambling’s offense from 2001-05.
A laser-sharp passer, Eugene was twice named the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, earning the honor in 2002 and 2005. He also was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as a senior, when he set the then-FCS single-season record with 56 touchdown passes while leading Grambling to the SWAC championship and the Black College Football National Championship.
Eugene still holds the FCS career record with 140 touchdown passes and currently serves as a scouting assistant for the Syracuse football program.
He also has coaching experience. Eugene coached former Grambling quarterback Noah Bodden, who later played at Southern and Edward Waters. Eugene also became the first Black coach to win a New York City Public Schools Athletic League championship while at Grand Street Campus High School in Brooklyn, New York.
Yes, he likely still has some coaching growth ahead of him. But a role at Grambling could be just the opportunity to make that happen.
That’s because Joseph and Carey shared play-calling duties last season while Carey also served as the Tigers’ quarterbacks coach.
Joseph said Carey’s decision to leave Grambling was based on family.
“Coach Carey is a great man,” Joseph said. “I’ve known him since he was 12 years old. He’s always been part of my family. My mom is like a mom to him. But he had to choose family. He has a young son. He has a daughter in college at LSU. He has another daughter going to high school. He chose family. I wish I would have done that in my young career. I chose the profession. And you’re not there all the time in that profession as a father. And that’s what he wanted to be — a father.
“I know it’s bad timing, but the playbook won’t change. People really didn’t know who was calling plays last year. So they’re not going to know this year.”
That hints at divided play-calling duties. And that kind of role could benefit both Eugene and the Grambling offense if he ends up coaching alongside Joseph.
“If you think about it, everybody has a responsibility, you know, with first- and second-down calls, with runs and passes. We always had a (coach) who was responsible for third-down runs and third-down passes, red zone runs and red zone passes.
“Part of calling plays is being organized in that room. We did it in an untraditional way when I was at LSU and we’re probably going to do it in an untraditional way this year. I won’t disclose that. But at the end of the day, the ball’s going to kick off. Nobody knew who called plays last year. They just assumed. You don’t know if I called them or who called them because I never came out and said who was the coordinator. But this year (Carey) was going to be the coordinator. The ball’s going to kick off, and I just want to make the rest of it die down as quick as I can.”
That leaves the primary question: Will Bruce Eugene be coaching alongside Joseph when the Tigers kick off the 2026 season?
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