HAMMOND - Southeastern Louisiana University head football coach Mike Lucas announced Monday the hiring of Lamar James as an assistant coach.

The hiring of James, a native of Mound Bayou, Miss., is pending approval from the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System.

James, a former defensive back at Coahoma (Miss.) Community College and the University of Wyoming, spent last season as defensive and special teams coordinator at Independence (Kan.) Community College. Prior to working at ICC, James worked three years at North Alabama, helping the Lions to a pair of Division II national semifinal appearances.

"Lamar brings to our staff expertise in a couple of areas," Lucas said. "Being a product of the Mississippi Junior College system, he will help us recruit that area which is very important to us and he brings to us great knowledge in secondary play."

While at UNA, James coached defensive backs and helped guide a defense that was ranked first in the Gulf South Conference during the 2003 and 2005 seasons, with the 2005 squad leading the nation in forced turnovers.

James, a 2002 graduate of Wyoming, coached current Baltimore Ravens defensive back Evan Oglesby, a first-team Division II All-American and All-GSC athlete, and Blake Farris, who earned first-team All-America honors and signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns.

Southeastern, a Division I member of the Southland Conference and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), opens its season Aug. 30 when it faces New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M.