Several times in the years between 1986 and 1989, arguments would flare up when USL football coaches held their meetings.
Several of the Ragin’ Cajun coaches wanted to put Brian Mitchell back deep, returning punts and kickoffs for the USL football squad.
"I always told them you’ve got to be crazy," said Nelson Stokley, head coach of the Cajuns at the time. "Who were we going to put at quarterback if he got hurt?"
Stokley made the right call, since Mitchell became one of the greatest two-way threat quarterbacks in NCAA history.
But the NFL’s Washington Redskins and head coach Joe Gibbs also made the right call, since Mitchell broke more than a half-dozen of the league’s special-teams records during a remarkable 14-year career.
Daily Advertiser file photo/Brad Kemp
Former USL quarterback Brian Mitchell was barely 5-foot-10 and came from small, rural roots in Plaquemine, but during his football career, Mitchell put the term ‘special’ in special teams by setting more than a half-dozen records during 14 seasons in the NFL.
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Combined kick return yards (19,013).
Combined kick return TDs (13).
Kickoff return yards (14,014).
Punt return yards (4,999).
Finished with 8,782 total offensive yards – 5,447 passing and 3,335 rushing – to go with what at the time was an NCAA-record 47 rushing touchdowns from the QB position.
At the time of his retirement, he also was the NFL’s all-time leader in all-purpose yardage (23,330) before Jerry Rice passed that mark.
Member of the USL Hall of Fame.
Selected as one of the 70 Greatest Redskins in 2002.
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