Hue Jackson is heading into his second season at Grambling State University, and he’s got a long way to go towards winning one of the school’s legends’ favor.
Former Grambling State quarterback and FCS legend Bruce Eugene was recently asked his opinion of the job that Hue Jackson is doing and he didn’t mince words.
Eugene said he felt the Hue Jackson hire was Grambling State trying to follow in the footsteps of Jackson State after it hired Deion Sanders.
“I felt like us trying to get Coach Hue was us trying to copy off Jackson State making a big splash,” Eugene told HBCU Overdrive with Doc Holliday earlier this week. “We were the first ones to make such a splash when we hired Coach (Doug) Williams. We’re tone-setters. We set the tone already. We already did that. They’re trying to catch up to us at Grambling, what we’re doing. But we looked like we became the followers, the little brothers when we made that move.”
“Coach Hue is not Coach Prime. Coach Prime has an aura about him,” Eugene continued. “He has that aura that’s infectious, that everybody wants to run to and be a part of what Coach Prime is doing. Coach Hue don’t have that same type of infectious spirit that Prime has.”
Here are three other highlights from the two-hour long interview:
Bruce Eugene feels like he should have been on Hue Jackson’s staff
Apparently, Eugene and Jackson have had conversations – including an interview – but nothing ever came of it.
“I felt like I should have been on his staff being that – you know – what I’ve done for Grambling. How I can help in recruiting and everything like that. I felt like I should have been on the staff as a quarterback coach. If he didn’t want to bring me on as an offensive coordinator, that’s fine. I feel like as a quarterback coach or an offensive analyst or something, I should have been on the staff.”
Eugene is a three-time Walter Payton Award nominee who finished as the second all-time passing career leader in the SWAC with 13,530 total passing yards, 140 total touchdowns, and 38 interceptions in 1,657 pass attempts highlighted by 874 total completions, with only Steve McNair topping those numbers.
Jackson cut players he sent to Grambling State University
Beyond his personal situation, Eugene wasn’t happy with the way a player that he sent down to Grambling State was treated. Noah Bodden was a three-star prospect that committed to Grambling State University under Broderick Fobbs back in 2020. But before Jackson coached a game at GSU, Bowden was in the transfer portal and headed to arch-rival Southern University. Eugene says he didn’t influence the move – he says Bodden was “cut” by Jackson.
“I didn’t move him. Hue cut him. Hue called him into the office, told him – look, we’re going in a different direction. You won’t be the quarterback here at Grambling State. Have a great day. That was it.”
Eugene said Bodden had offers from FAMU, LIU and Norfolk State before ultimately committing to Southern.
“He told me Coach, I want to go to Southern. I want to play against Grambling. I want to beat them and show them what they gave up.”
And Bodden isn’t the only player that Eugene sent to Grambling State that was dismissed under Jackson. Offensive lineman Chris Chernak Jr. was cut as well, according to Eugene.
“You cut him saying he can’t play for you and UMass, San Diego State, Old Dominion – everybody else thinks otherwise,” Eugene said.
“This is a kid 6’8, 365. You can’t get it together. You can’t coach him up. I guess they felt like he didn’t fit what they were doing, so he’ll be at Old Dominion.”
Taking the ‘G’ off the helmet
Hue Jackson made headlines last season when he took the “G” off the Grambling State University helmet, stating that the players would have to ‘earn’ it back. Eugene was NOT a fan.
“I was upset for the simple reason – what’s the G got to do with you winning and losing? That should have been a staff issue, prior to the season. They should have earned their G’s prior to the season. Because coach used to tell us that G isn’t for the current people that are playing. That G is for the ones that came before you. That’s who that G represents. When they see you, that means you’re holding it down. We looked average.”
“I wasn’t the G that was stopping you from playing,” Eugene continued. “It wasn’t the G that didn’t cause you to throw the ball, make the tackle or anything else. That was just bad habits. That was just not having the want to to get it done.”