Former The Citadel great returns to the military school as assistant football coach

Nov. 6—When The Citadel running backs coach Everette Sands left the school at the end of last season to take a job closer to his hometown in Conway, Bulldogs head coach Maurice Drayton knew the next coach would have some very big shoes to fill.

After all, Sands was a former All-American running back who led the Bulldogs to a Southern Conference championship in 1992 and finished his career second on the school’s all-time rushing list with 3,962 yards.

Few players could match Sands’ resume.

Well, there was one player who not only could match Sands’ production on the field in a Bulldogs uniform but had surpassed all other running backs at The Citadel — Lyvonia “Stump” Mitchell.

But would Mitchell be interested in returning to his alma mater to become an assistant coach?

As it turned out, he was interested. So interested in fact that he reached out to Drayton about the possibility of joining the Bulldogs staff last spring.

“Coach Mitchell has forgotten more football than most people know, so to have him on staff now has been an invaluable asset for our program,” Drayton said. “We’ve tried a couple of times to get him to come back to The Citadel, but things just didn’t work out. We’re very fortunate to have him with us now, and I know our young men are better off because he’s with us.

“He’s a wealth of knowledge for our coaching staff and for our players. I don’t have the right words in the King’s language to tell you how much I’m indebted to him or how grateful we are to have him on our staff this season.”

It’s been more than four decades since Mitchell has been a regular visitor to the downtown military school, but The Citadel has never been far from his thoughts.

“Being back at The Citadel means everything to me,” said Mitchell, who finished his four-year career with more than 4,000 yards. “This is the place that gave me an opportunity to not only continue my education, but my athletic career as well. For me to be able to give back to the school that gave me so much has been a blessing. I’ve always wanted to come back here and coach, so it’s kind of dream come true for me.”

Being back on the sidelines at Johnson Hagood Stadium has brought back a flood of memories for Mitchell.

“There were so many great moments when I was here,” Mitchell said. “A lot has changed since I was here, a lot of the change has been good, but the world as a whole is so different now than it was back when I played.

“What hasn’t changed is the way The Citadel helps prepare these young men for life and life after football. That’s what this is all about.”

And Mitchell is doing this for free as essentially a volunteer coach. Mitchell’s official title is “senior advisor” to Drayton and the coaching staff.

“He’s doing this for nothing, for free,” Drayton said. “He chooses to be here in Charleston for free because he wants to give back to the school, the coaching staff and the young men in our program. He’s been one of my mentors for years.”

The loss of income doesn’t matter to Mitchell.

“The opportunity to come back to my alma mater is more than enough payment for me,” he said. “I’m not getting paid financially now, but I’m getting paid because of everything that The Citadel has done for me and I’m just paying it back.”

Since finishing his NFL career, in which he rushed for 4,649 yards and 32 TDs, Mitchell has been a coach at the high school, college and professional level.

The Bulldogs have been one of the top rushing teams at the FCS level this season — averaging 192 yards a game on the ground.

Gavin Garcia has been among the top rushers in the Southern Conference with 683 yards and six TDs. Sebastien Boyle has been slowed with injuries this season but has come off one of his best games of the season last week against Mercer.

“Sebastien is much bigger and a faster guy than I ever was,” Mitchell said. “He has the kind of size and speed you’ll find in running backs at the Power 4 level and even some in the NFL. Gavin is more of a scat back. He has shown flashes of being able to make outstanding plays. We just need more consistency out of everyone to be as successful as we want to be.”

Mitchell most recently served as the running backs coach at West Georgia for one season.

Prior to returning to the college ranks, Mitchell coached running backs in the NFL for 10 consecutive seasons, initially working for the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-16 before notching stints with the New York Jets (2017-18) and the Cleveland Browns (2019-23).

He also served in the same role for the Washington Redskins for two seasons from 2008-10 before securing his second head coaching role at Southern University, leading the Jaguars for three campaigns from 2010-12.

Mitchell was drafted in the ninth round in 1981 by the St. Louis Cardinals and competed for the franchise until the 1989 season before wrapping up his stint in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1990. Notably, he registered his best season during the 1995-96 campaign, logging 1,006 yards and seven TDs on the ground while adding 502 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

Reach Andrew Miller at 843-937-5599. Follow him on Twitter @APMILLER_PandC