LORMAN — Alcorn State’s 2010 season might have ended last on Nov. 20 with a 27-14 loss to Jackson State in the Capital City Classic.

But the Braves’ second season is still in full swing.

Now that the season is over, Alcorn State coaches are canvassing the state and country trying to find athletes that will keep the Braves’ program heading in the right direction.

In the last three years, Alcorn has improved its record from 2-10 to 3-6 to 5-6.

And head coach Earnest Collins said getting quality recruits is critical to continuing the upward trend of the program.

“You can be the greatest Xs and Os coach in the world, but if you don’t have the players to make the engine run, you’re not going to be a good football coach,” Collins said. “Name a great football coach who doesn’t have great players. I don’t think you can find one.”

Collins said he and the coaching staff identify the team’s biggest needs each year to decide what positions to focus on in recruiting.

This year, the coaches are looking at players who can improve the defense.

“Two of our biggest needs are on the defensive side of the ball in the secondary and on the defensive line,” Collins said. “But you’re always looking at every position. You can’t go away from recruiting positions, because if you do that for a year or two, all of a sudden you’ll be weak at that position.”

While Collins is at a disadvantage in trying to recruit top flight athletes to attend a small school located in rural Mississippi playing in the SWAC, that doesn’t deter him from trying to sway even the top recruits who have been recruited by SEC schools.

“We always talk to any kid whether he’s an SEC recruit or not, because you never know what the attitude of a young man is,” Collins said. “We may run across one every few years who is able to play in the SEC but doesn’t want to. He wants to be a big fish in a small pond instead of a small fish in a big pond. You have to talk to kids whether you think you can get them or not.”

And once national signing day comes and goes in early February, there won’t be much time to celebrate a good class.

Collins and his staff will already be focusing on the 2012 class.

“We’ll start on the 2012 class right after (the 2011 class),” Collins said. “It’s a never-ending process. We are always in the process of growing our football team.”