He initially served in an interim capacity for the final seven games of the 1987 season, taking over for Conway Hayman who was fired after a 0–3–1 start.
[3] Catchings was accused of pressuring his players to abandon their studies in favor of football.
[5] In May 1989, Prairie View shuttered its entire athletic program, except for track and field, due to massive financial problems.
Ahead of the team's planned return to the gridiron in 1991, school officials sent a letter to 30,000 alumni asking for donations.
[10] Even after breaking the losing streak in 1998, Prairie View would only win a total of 23 games over the next nine years until going 7-3 in 2007--the school's first "official" non-losing season since 1976.