Championship experience has officially arrived in Baton Rouge. Marshall Faulk’s vision for Southern University football is coming into focus, and his latest staff addition signals a commitment to experience, credibility, and winning at the highest levels of the game. The recently hired Jaguar’s head coach has added veteran football mind Curtis Johnson as assistant head coach.

On Sunday, Southern officially welcomed Johnson to the coaching staff. Johnson’s arrival is good news for Southern on multiple fronts. With 42 years of coaching experience across college and professional football, he brings institutional knowledge and leadership that few assistants can match.

From 2006 to 2011, Johnson coached WRs with the New Orleans Saints and was part of the Super Bowl XLIV championship run in 2009. Later, he returned to Sean Payton’s staff after a brief stop with the Chicago Bears in 2016, serving as a senior offensive assistant from 2017 to 2020 and again as WRs coach in 2021. Most recently, he took charge as head coach of the Houston Roughnecks and Houston Gamblers from 2023 to 2025.

With that level of talent, Johnson’s addition significantly boosts the Southern staff’s potential. But the most intriguing fact is that Faulk also shares a long-standing connection with him. While on staff at San Diego State, Johnson was the coach who recruited Faulk to play for the Aztecs. A New Orleans native like Faulk, Johnson also shares a personal and professional connection with Southern’s head coach, having recruited Faulk to San Diego State during his early coaching career.

But Marshall Faulk isn’t done yet. With him at the helm, the Jaguars’ staff is starting to look like a stack of golden tickets.

Alongside Johnson, Faulk pulled off a long-awaited reunion by hiring Todd Lyght as DC, reuniting former teammates from the Super Bowl XXXIV–winning St. Louis Rams. Lyght’s resume, which includes college stops at Notre Dame and NFL experience with the Philadelphia Eagles, backs that move.

However, for the new Southern head coach, the upgrades kept coming.

Faulk added more NFL bite by hiring Donald Penn to coach the offensive line, then rounded out the group with Ben Miles, son of Les Miles, as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. With that, one thing is clear: Faulk is building his first head coaching job with intent from day one. But what’s really worth mentioning is Marshall Faulk’s ability to attract high-end coaching talent on a limited budget.

Faulk signed a three-year contract with the Jags worth $1.2 million, with a $950K pool allocated for assistant coaches’ salaries. Now, pulling off this level of pedigree with that amount is hardly a luxury setup. While the new head coach makes every dollar count, he’s also adding another key piece.

Marshall Faulk makes another addition to the Southern staff

The Pro Football Hall of Famer is expected to hire Sacramento State offensive coordinator Ken Merchant to lead his offense, according to CBS Sports. Merchant’s first season at Sac State made waves. The Hornets averaged 33.8 PPG, a huge jump from the previous year. While Merchant’s offense instantly transformed Sac State into a top-performing attack in the conference, the Hornets finished 7-5 overall, bouncing back from a 3-9 season the year before.

However, this decision comes just days after Faulk had announced his intention to hire Kyle Caskey. The Battlehawks’ RBs coach, who previously coached in the NFL with the Bengals and Lions, had helped guide them to an 8-2 record. Although reports suggested Faulk offered the position to Caskey, he declined for a better opportunity.

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Now Faulk’s choice to pivot from Caskey to Merchant signals a bold approach: he’s targeting coaches who can immediately deliver results and reshape Southern’s offense.