Northwestern State coach Blaine McCorkle says coming to NSU was 'a no-brainer'

Northwestern State football coach Blaine McCorkle doesn’t dodge answering one of the toughest questions he’s had since accepting the Demons’ gig about nine months ago.

“Why in the world would anyone, much less someone who was comfortable in his previous job, leave a successful program in Mississippi to take over the troubled program in Natchitoches?”

NSU, if you recall, halted their 2023 football season with four games remaining after the on-campus shooting death of one of its student-athletes. The Demons were 0-6 overall and 0-2 in the Southland Conference and the program was in disarray. Head coach Brad Laird resigned as part of the fallout.

There was a belief by many that the NSU football program was dead and buried for the next millennium. Enter McCorkle, who spoke freely about the challenges his staff has faced and why he took the job during a Thursday visit to Shreveport as part of the Northwestern State/Independence Bowl Kickoff Luncheon at Superior Steakhouse.

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“Why would any coach in the world not want to be the head coach at Northwestern State right now?” McCorkle asked. “If you’re a coach and you’re coaching for the right reasons — and we all say that we get into coaching to grow and develop and mature and mentor young men — why would 250 people not have applied for this job? Where else in the country is there a better opportunity to speak into the lives of young men right now than Northwestern State?

“The reason you didn’t is because people are coaching for the wrong reasons these days. They’re coaching for a paycheck and a contract to get a better job.”

McCorkle, who played for Nick Saban at LSU and twice played in Shreveport’s Independence Bowl, said he was coming from a place (Division III Belhaven) where he was having a lot of success. His last two Blazer teams went 17-4, the most success in school history after winning just two games the season before he arrived.

“I could’ve stayed there my entire career and been just fine, or I could have waited on a program that was winning championships and the coach retired or moved to a bigger program — slot right in and keep doing what he’s doing,” McCorkle said. “But how good would I feel about myself? If you’re coaching for the right reasons, you ought to want to take over a job like Northwestern right now. So, to me, that was a no brainer.”

McCorkle and his staff have been methodically rebuilding the program from the inside out since arriving in November. There are 107 athletes on the roster almost evenly split between returnees and newcomers. There are no returning starters on offense and only two on defense.

No surprise that the Demons were selected to finish last in the SLC race and there were no Demons selected to the preseason All-SLC team.

“We shouldn’t be picked anywhere else. Why would we be?” McCorkle asked. “We’ve earned that. And until we start doing things on the field, we don’t deserve anything else. And that’s on us to fix.”

Things have been going smoothly so far this fall with a culture rebuild within the program. Next week, the Demons will be seeking their first football victory in 662 days when they visit Tulsa.

“They’re a group of guys, right now, that I think are excited to be at Northwestern State,” McCorkle said. “It’s been a fun transformation to watch. If we can continue to build on that, the football piece on the field will come.”

Jimmy covers Louisiana sports him for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Northwestern State coach Blaine McCorkle says coming to NSU was 'a no-brainer'