LION UP!

Written by Blake Esta

Heading into the 2023 season, Southeastern Louisiana University is ranked 11th in the Athlon Sports FCS Pre-Season Poll. Since taking over as head coach of the Lions in 2018, Frank Scelfo promised a team that would be able to compete nationally and a team that would be consistent in that effort. In 2022 fans got to see the culmination of that promise. After coming up short in several previous attempts, Coach Scelfo delivered the first of what figures to be many Southland Conference Championships.

Make no mistake about it, Southeastern has been good enough to win in each of the last four seasons, finishing in the top 25 every year, an accomplishment only two other programs in the country can stake claim to. 2022 wasn’t a miracle year among the pedestrian, it was just the year that the talent, depth, and coaching all reached their peak in unison to bring home the hardware. Coach Scelfo has amassed a 34-23 record while going 25-13 in the Southland Conference in his first five seasons in Hammond.

Circling back to Coach Scelfo’s promise of national notoriety for this program; being ranked 11th heading into the season, the highest of any Southland Conference team shows the rest of the country has learned what Lions fans have known for a few years. Under Frank Scelfo, Southeastern is a team you can count on being a part of post-season discussions year-in and year-out. Southeastern made the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, only missing in the abbreviated spring season of 2021 by one game. Additionally, the Lions have been lethal when playing in Strawberry Stadium since 2018 going 16-6 with a perfect 3-0 record in playoff games played in Hammond.

The last piece to being a nationally viable program is contending for a National Championship. Each of Southeastern’s playoff appearances have gone the same, a big win at home followed by a tough loss on the road in round two. Last year, however, felt different. In 2019 Southeastern fell 78-23 to Montana; in 2021 James Madison handled the Lions 59-20; and in both games Southeastern looked like they didn’t belong on the same field as the FCS elite. Last year, it was a nail-biting, tough overtime loss on the road at #8 Samford. Beyond the score being closer, there was just a different look, a team that belonged. The same team that also gave eventual National Semi-finalist Incarnate Word their lone loss in the regular season.

So, as we get ready for the birth of a new season, expect a team that will contend for a repeat of Southland Conference champions. Expect a team that will contend for a home playoff game, with hopes to get past the 2nd round. Perhaps, we’ll even see a team do what the North Dakota, Appalachian State, and South Dakota's of the FCS have done with regularity. Take down an FBS program enroute to making a statement for the nation to see. Southeastern kicks off the 2023 season on the road in Starkville, Mississippi on September 2nd against Mississippi State.