State college football: Dan Cocannouer's rebuilding project making progress at Southwestern State

Revitalizing the NCAA Division II program has stress-tested the brain cells.

“Oh, I guarantee you that,” Cocannouer said, laughing. “I have no patience at all. I think I was on the suicide hotline those first two years here. They had to come and check on me. It was rough.”

Loss after loss early on was not easy for anyone, especially Cocannouer, who left a successful Class 6A program at Edmond Santa Fe High School. Cocannouer was an All-State running back at Tuttle who played for Southwestern State in the late 1970s, when the Bulldogs won two championships in the old Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference.

“It's all about recruiting,” Cocannouer said. “We've got some good kids, good character kids who want to play and do what it takes to win. I'm proud of them.”

WELCOME MAT

*Southern Nazarene will play the first of just two home games this season at 6:35 p.m. Saturday against Harding (Ark.). The last time SNU played a home game was November, when it beat Langston to clinch the Central States Football League title and its first NAIA playoff berth. Now, the Crimson Storm is in the infant stage of becoming a Division II member — and it's paying some ugly dues. Southern Nazarene is 0-3, which includes a 63-21 loss at Henderson State (Ark.) and 37-15 setback at East Central. Both are from the Great American Conference, the league SNU will soon become an official member.

WELCOME WAGON

*Central Oklahoma will honor its 1962 and 1982 NAIA champion football teams during halftime of Saturday's game vs. No. 9-ranked Washburn (Kan.) at Wantland Stadium. Players from each team will attend. Defensive end Ed Nowlin was a first-team All-American for the '62 squad, which finished 11-0 and beat Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 28-13 for the title. Wide receiver Daric Zeno was a first-team All-American for the 1982 team. Those Bronchos finished 10-2 after they trimmed Mesa State (Colo.), 14-11.

Mesa was coached by Bob Cortese, who went on to coach the Oklahoma Wranglers of the Arena Football League and then spent several years as a football radio/television analyst in the city.