Campbell, Stewart and Edenfield: Reuniting Champions
This Saturday was supposed to be the fifth “Battle for the Belt” so here at The Trojan Wall we’re doing Five Stories in Five Days. This story makes six, but we wanted to bring it to you anyway.
The very first thing anyone will bring up about Steve Campbell, Greg Stewart and Kenny Edenfield—South Alabama’s trio of top coaches—is that they played together at Troy back when they:
A. Were Troy State
B. Were Division II
C. Won a National Championship
D. All of the Above
It’s a neat little bookend to the three men’s careers that they began as players together, and then all coached together. But, what happened in the years between?
Campbell graduated after winning the title, and went to be a grad assistant at Auburn under Pat Dye. While there, he met some guy named Blakeney.
After getting his masters’ degree, Campbell headed down to Delta State to be the offensive line coach. Stewart was hired out of college to be the defensive line coach at Jacksonville State.
Edenfield bounced around a few high schools until the ol’ Ball Coach came calling. Rick Rhoades, the same coach that led the Troy State Trojans to the national championship, was hired to be the head coach at Nicholls State. He hired Edenfield to coach quarterbacks and wide receivers—and he hired Campbell to run the offense.
The 1993 Colonels coaching staff was basically a Troy State reunion. It didn’t last long though. In 1994, Rhoades left for Stephen F. Austin, Edenfield went back to the high school level, and Campbell stuck it out one more year before dropping to the JUCO level.
Campbell was named head coach at Southwest Mississippi Community College in 1997, and he brought Edenfield on board to be an assistant. Two years later, the carousel swept up all three former Trojans.
Campbell was offered the head coaching gig at Delta State, a school he knew. This time, he teamed up with Stewart—who was already on his staff. Edenfield stuck around Southwest Mississippi to be the head coach.
Stewart left after one year with Campbell though, a season shy of glory.
Campbell won the second national title of his career at Delta State, this time as a coach. He also won Coach of the Year. The Statesmen went 14-1, with a single loss at Arkansas Tech.
Delta State missed out on the playoffs the next year, but Campbell took an opportunity to coach at the Division I-A level. I’ve mentioned before how amazing the coincidence of his replacement was.
Campbell jumped from Middle Tennessee to Mississippi State before landing at Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2004. Edenfield went from Tulsa to North Alabama. With Stewart well into his second stint at Jacksonville State, the three stayed still for the first time in over a decade.
Campbell won another national title, this time at the JUCO level. That bought him another six years on the Mississippi Coast. After four years of no movement, Edenfield returned to the alma mater the next year.
His first three years coincided with the last three conference titles Blakeney won. One of those years, South Alabama’s football team played its first game.
This is a look at each coach a decade ago, just before Louisiana-Lafayette came calling. Campbell turned them down.
Instead, the Cajuns went with a guy who played during his first stint at Delta State and coached under him during his second—Mark Hudspeth. Hudspeth hired the defensive coordinator from that 1999 team—Greg Stewart.
In 2013, fresh off a conference title that would later be vacated, Stewart reunited with Campbell, the first time in 15 years. This time they met up at Central Arkansas. The Bears won 13 games in the first two seasons, then 10 in each of the next two seasons.
Campbell’s success made him a top pick for the vacant seat in Mobile. A year later and he would have had the opportunity to coach his alma mater, but the opportunity instead came dressed in rival colors. In 2018 Campbell took over as the second head coach of the South Alabama Jaguars.
Campbell brought Stewart with him, and Edenfield left to coach with them. For the first time since 1987, the three coaches were back on the same staff.
Be sure to check out our other #SouthHateWeek stories!
Before the Belt: the Rivalry Across the Years
Battle for the Belt 101
Mel Lucas: The First Link
The Battle for the Belt Uniform History
Troy Football in Mobile