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On Saturday, LaGrange College beat Southern Virginia to cap off a 6-4 regular season, just the second winning season in the football program’s history. On Wednesday, head coach Wes Dodson was appropriately awarded the USA South coach of the year honors.

An official press release from the USA South states:

“Dodson, in his second season at LaGrange, becomes the first Panther leader to earn a USA South Coach of the Year honor. Picked to finish last in the USA South Preseason Coaches poll, LaGrange posted a 6-2 Conference record to earn the League’s second-best record. The six wins against USA South opponents are the most in program history while LaGrange’s 6-4 overall record is the best since the 2008 season (9-2). Finally, after an 0-7 League campaign last season, the six-win improvement sets a new Conference record for best one-year turnaround.”

Dodson was hired in early 2023 after an exhaustive search for a new head coach. The current Panthers head coach was hired after serving 14 years as the defensive coordinator Hampden-Sydney. 

His impact has been tremendous. After a tough 0-9 season in his first year in charge, the Panthers have rebounded in a big way. After an 0-2 start to the 2024 season in which the Panthers were outscored by a combined 75 points, the team found their form, winning six of their last eight games.

“People think, oh, that first year you’re laying a foundation. Well, the first year you’re trying to dig that foundation, and that’s what we did last year. It was just keep digging till we could hit solid ground,” Dodson said earlier in the season. “We got so much better from last year, from the first week to the end of the year, we had so many games we had chances to win, we just didn’t know how to win. And then our off season was still about finishing.”