Sports

Baton Rouge, LA (Sports Network) - Southern University has named Lyvonia "Stump" Mitchell as the team's next head football coach.

Mitchell most recently was the assistant head coach/running backs coach for the NFL's Washington Redskins and has 21 years of coaching experience at the professional level.

The 50-year-old Mitchell has previous head coaching experience at the collegiate level, having served as coach at Morgan State from 1996-98.

Mitchell, a former NFL running back with the Cardinals organization, went on to coach the running backs for the Seattle Seahawks for nine seasons before joining the Redskins in 2008.

"Stump Mitchell's 21 years in the NFL, 10 as a player and 11 years as a assistant coach, combined with his head coaching experience, will bring a wealth of diverse knowledge to our football program," said Southern athletics director Greg LaFleur after initially offering the position to Mitchell.

Southern had offered the position to Mitchell back on December 31, but Washington still had a game remaining which delayed the announcement. Pete Richardson, who had served as Southern's head coach for the past 17 seasons, was fired after a 6-5 campaign.

Over a nine-year NFL playing career with the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals, Mitchell compiled 4,649 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns. His 177 kickoff returns for 4,007 yards are both franchise records and he still stands as the team's all-time leader in combined yardage with 11,988 yards while ranking second in rushing.

01/12 15:54:10 ET