HAMMOND, La. (WGNO) — Southeastern head football coach Frank Scelfo has successfully attracted some of the top in-state talents to Hammond through offseason camps.
Friday, the Lions hosted another seven-on-seven showcase and followed that up with the Frank Scelfo Football Camp today for high school freshman through college sophomores.
“We’ve just got a great product and we’re kind of like a hidden gem here in Hammond. Even, you know, kids out of Baton Rouge, New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, they haven’t been here. So, this is an opportunity to get them here on campus, spend some time with them, let them see the things that we have here available for them and I think that’s the biggest moment. We find more guys in these camps than we do during the course of recruiting,” said Southeastern head football coach Frank Scelfo.
Last year, Scelfo said the Lions’ football program featured ’73 players within 70 miles of Hammond, America’ and he expects similar numbers in the fall of 2024.
Southeastern is preparing to rebound from a 3-8 finish in 2023 that started with a seven-game losing streak, but that task will be anything but easy in the fall.
Frank Scelfo and company open the 2024 regular season at Yulman Stadium on Thursday, August 29th against Tulane.
The opener marks the first time that Scelfo will face Tulane since serving as an assistant on the Green Wave coaching staff from 1996-2006.
“I mean, just think about what Willie [Fritz] has done, you know, before moving on. 12-win season, that’s never happened. New Year’s Day bowl game, that’s never happened. I pull for them. I’m a Tulane fan. You know, I’ve been pulling for them. My oldest brother played there. My father-in-law played there. I mean, you know, we’ve got a history with Tulane in our family,” said Scelfo.
Coach Scelfo started off as recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach, and was a key piece of the offensive staff that helped orchestrate Tulane’s 12-0 finish in 1998. He would eventually work his way up to offensive coordinator.
“[Buddy Teevens] brought me in there and he gave me the opportunity to coach FBS football and I’ll never forget him for that, but he taught us a lot of good things. And then Coach [Tommy] Bowden came in there and we changed the trajectory of where we were going from a history standpoint,” said Scelfo.
Frank Scelfo worked at Tulane for 11 seasons under three different head coaches, including his brother Chris Scelfo.
The full interview with coach Scelfo is available in the link above.
In week two, Southeastern travels to Hattiesburg to face Southern Miss on Saturday, Sept. 7.
In week three, they host Eastern Washington on Sept. 14, and in week four they welcome South Dakota State to Hammond on the 21st.
The Jackrabbits are currently the two-time reigning FCS national champions.
Southeastern closes out their non-conference schedule at Tarleton State. The full schedule is available here.
“We want to be on the national scene. We want to be mentioned in the same breath with those other guys. But to do that, you got to go play them,” said Scelfo.
This fall, Southeastern will make a run at their second Southland Conference title and fourth FCS playoff appearance under Frank Scelfo.
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