Who dat? New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees appeared on the Jay Leno Show on Wednesday night. Brees was a guest on Leno’s 10@10 interview feature, which was renamed 9@9 in honor of his uniform number. Brees discussed everything from his childhood nickname, to meeting President Barack Obama, to his guilty-pleasure TV shows. See the interview here.
On the job: Frank Wilson officially became LSU’s running backs coach on Tuesday, and he was recruiting in his hometown of New Orleans a day later, reports the Times-Picayune. Wilson, who came to the Tigers from Tennessee, told the newspaper he’s pleased to be back in Louisiana. “With all those dots connected, to go back to the place I call home, the place I love, my home state university,” he says. “Sometimes you have to go full circle before that happens for you. The opportunity presented itself, and I’m awfully thankful for it.” While Wilson is seen as being a strong recruiter, he made an impression as a capable coach during his stint heading the O.P. Walker High School football team for three years, leading the team to 4A Championship game in 2002. “Without a question he can coach. His teams at Walker executed offensively and defensively as well as any team we’ve played against,” John Curtis Coach J.T. Curtis.
Expected to get approval from LSU Board Friday: The University of New Orleans is expected to get approval from the LSU Board of Supervisors Friday to drop down in sports from Division I to Division III as a cost-cutting move. While Division I student-athletes have scholarships to college, Division III schools don’t give scholarships for sports. According to New Orleans TV station WGNO, UNO’s athletic department expects to run a budget deficit between $700,000 to $1 million this fiscal year. The athletic department owes UNO about $5.5 million from auxiliary funds. UNO announced last month it was looking at dropping down to Division III. Centenary College in Shreveport also plans to become a Division III school by 2011.
