By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent; @StacyBrownMedia
(ABOVE) Oliver “Buddy” Pough, 64, has been a part of the South Carolina State football program for nearly four decades as a player, assistant coach and head coach since 2002. He had led the South Carolina State Bulldogs football team to four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) title, in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2013. Pough, who spent the last 16 seasons walking up-and-down the sidelines at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium as the Bulldogs’ head coach, said last Tuesday that next season will be his last as a coach at his alma mater.
In South Carolina sports lore, no program is more revered by African Americans than the South Carolina State University Bulldogs.
And, not many coaches are as beloved as Oliver “Buddy” Pough.
When the Bulldogs face Delaware State on Saturday, Oct. 20 at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium, it’s quite possibly the last homecoming game for Pough, who’s not expected to return to the sidelines next year.
“Well, we haven’t officially called it quits yet, but my contract is done,” Pough told NNPA Newswire this week.
He said it’s been an up and down experience, first playing for and then coaching at his Alma Mater.
Like he’s well-known for, Pough’s characterization of an “up and down” experience is modest.
He’s spent nearly 30 years at South Carolina State as a student, athlete, assistant coach and head coach.
“We won 16 Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference championships since the conference started in 1970,” said Willie Jeffries, a former Bulldogs head coach and college football hall of famer.
“That’s more than triple the championships of the next school in line and Buddy is responsible for 12 of those championships,” said Jeffries, Pough’s mentor.
“Buddy played in two of those championship seasons, he participated in four as an assistant coach and he’s won six himself as head coach,” Jeffries said.
Pough entered this year, his 17th and possible final season as head coach of the Bulldogs, with an impressive 120-64 record, including 94-33 in the MEAC.
At least a half dozen of his players have gone onto the NFL.
His overall conference record at South Carolina State trails only Jeffries.
“He’s nine wins shy of the record and I was hoping he would stay on and break the record,” said Jeffries, who dines weekly with