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The announcement came pretty quick this morning that LSU's search for Frank Wilson's replacement has come to an end with an unsurprising name: Texas Tech running backs coach Jabbar Juluke.
BATON ROUGE - Jabbar Juluke, a coach with strong ties to New Orleans and a reputation of developing running backs, has been named running backs coach at LSU, head coach Les Miles announced on Saturday.
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Juluke comes to LSU after a brief stint at Texas Tech, which was preceded by three years as running backs coach at Louisiana Tech. Juluke will take the place of Frank Wilson, who was hired as the head coach at Texas-San Antonio last month.
"Jabbar is a veteran running backs coach with strong ties to New Orleans," Miles said. "He has a proven track record of success at both the college and high school level and he's going to do a great job of continuing to develop our players both on and off the field.
"Jabbar is a great fit for us and we are excited to have him join our program."
Juluke, a graduate of Southern University and a native of the New Orleans area, served as the head coach at Edna Karr High School for nine years where he led his team to one state title and three consecutive appearances in the state championship game.
At Louisiana Tech, he coached record-setting running back Kenneth Dixon for three years. Dixon finished his career with the Bulldogs as the NCAA's all-time leader in touchdowns (87), points scored (522) and games played in which he scored a touchdown (38). As a senior in 2015, Dixon led the nation in scoring (14.2 points per game) and was second nationally in touchdowns scored (26).
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Juluke joined Louisiana Tech following nine years at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans where he compiled a nine-year record of 80-39 record capped off with a 14-0 mark and a Louisiana state championship in 2012.
Over his final four year at Karr, Juluke his team to a 49-8 mark and three appearances in the state championship game
During his nine years at Karr, Juluke had over 70 players sign college football scholarships.
Prior to serving as head coach at Edna Karr, Juluke was the defensive coordinator for four years at Frederick Douglas High School in New Orleans and was a wide receivers coach at Brother Martin for one year before that.
He got his start in coaching as a defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator at O.P. Walker High School in New Orleans where he spent one year before moving over to St. Augustine High School where he was a linebackers coach for two years.
A native of south Louisiana, Juluke helped lead Southern to a Black National Championship in 1993 as a senior safety on the Jaguars and lettered in both football and basketball. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Southern in 1999.
Juluke is married to the former Denise Smith and the couple has three children - Jahmad, Jamari, and Dyruius.
If you followed our coverage of the search, Juluke's name comes as no surprise. He was one of the safer bets in the search and is very much a natural successor for Wilson. Like Wilson, Juluke is a former New Orleans high school coach, although he didn't quite follow Wilson's path into the SEC. He had just recently made the jump from Louisiana Tech to Texas Tech, but most believed he would take the LSU job if offered.
Juluke likely already had a relationship with LSU tailbacks Leonard Fournette and Darrel Williams, so that transition should be fairly smooth, as should his recruiting in the NOLA area. As to whether he'll take over Wilson's recruiting coordinator duties, there's no official word but I would guess those will likely shift towards Ed Orgeron to help justify a new raise and contract.
But in other news that I left as an ellipsis:
Miles also announced on Saturday that wide receiver coach Tony Ball has left the staff to pursue other opportunities.