In one week, two more HBCU programs opened their doors to former NFL stars looking to get into coaching.
Last week, it was Michael Vick returning home to Virginia as the new head football coach at Norfolk State. On Thursday, news surfaced that former Eagles star DeSean Jackson was finalizing a deal to take over at Delaware State.
They join former NFL star and current Tennessee St coach Eddie George as the latest big names to helm HBCU teams over the last five years.
It began with Tyrone Wheatley, who was hired at Morgan State in 2019. In 2021, Deion Sanders was hired by Jackson State, Hue Jackson by Grambling and George by Tennessee State.
Sanders had the greatest success, leading the Tigers to two SWAC titles and two Celebration Bowl appearances. This past season, George produced his most successful season by leading the Tigers to an Ohio Valley Conference title (OVC) and an NCAA FCS Playoff appearance.
Jackson, unfortunately, didn’t have as much success and was fired after two seasons while Wheatley left after the 2021 season and is now the head coach at Wayne State in Michigan.
These hires brought national attention to HBCU programs that were once historic hotbeds of NFL talent when Black players weren’t welcome at traditional powerhouses like Penn State, Notre Dame and SEC schools. But once those doors were opened, HBCUs were depleted of these talents.
Over the last few years, a resurgence of attention has been given to HBCU programs, leading talented players like Caylin Newton (Howard), Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter at Jackson State, and Draylen Ellis (Tennessee St.) to commit to these programs.
Some have blasted these players for signing with HBCUs, including Fox Sports’ Doug Gottlieb who ridiculed Hunter for jumping from Florida St. to Jackson St.
“Twitter celebrating a kid making an obvious mistake is hilarious,” exclaimed Gottlieb.
Some, including many in the HBCU community, have taken issue with people like Deion Sanders, feeling that they’re simply using HBCUs as stepping stones to FBS programs.
But to truly understand the significance of these decisions, you must know the history of HBCU football.
These institutions have produced some of the greatest players in NFL history, including 35 Pro Football Hall of Famers, yet they struggled to garner national media attention.
Outside of the annual Bayou Classic, many networks declined to invest in these games and air them nationally. Some were aired locally, but most were denied national coverage.
Networks like BET, Aspire, CSTV (now CBS Sports Network), ESPN and the NFL Network tried their hands at airing actual games but never experienced true success due to misunderstood rights deals, shady representation, conservative thinking, fragmentation and a general lack of support.
But things have improved over the last few years.
Media companies like HBCU GO and HBCU+ have invested in live game production and the Celebration Bowl has become an annual staple on ABC.
With distribution improving, the next logical step was to address the on-the-field product.
Some schools recognized this need and opened up their checkbooks to attract talent. Unfortunately, recruiting in today’s NIL-crazed era can be financially prohibitive to many HBCU programs.
But coaching affords more opportunity. Just look at the success Doug Williams had, starting at Morehouse and then at his alma mater, Grambling St.
While many former players get their coaching experience with NFL teams or FBS/FCS programs as assistants, HBCU programs are now providing them with immediate head coaching opportunities.
While some voice concern about this trend, we’ve seen this happen with white coaches in different sports i.e. Trent Dilfer at UAB, Jeff Saturday with the Colts, Steve Nash in the NBA, etc.
If you think about it, HBCUs were founded to give Black students educational opportunities denied to them by white institutions, especially those in the South, so shouldn’t their athletic programs offer the same opportunity?
Now, is it a perfect practice? No.
The Hue Jackson era was unsuccessful and the Ed Reed at Bethune-Cookman fiasco was an embarrassment. But there’s no denying the good intentions or the overall attention these hires have brought both these programs and HBCU football as a whole.
Sanders turned Jackson State around. George has transformed Tennessee State into a powerful program again.
And both brought a new level of attention to their programs and HBCUs in general.
Next year, Michael Vick will have his turn at transforming a program coming off of three straight losing seasons, and once everything is signed, Jackson will have his shot at leading a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2012.
HBCU programs are slowly changing their mindset and outlook, with more programs recognizing that the college sports landscape is dramatically different from the 70s and 80s, and they need to adjust in many ways.
One of those ways is giving Black, former NFL players an opportunity they wouldn’t normally receive.
And that’s the ultimate mission of HBCUs.
