Ladies and gentlemen of HBCU Nation, we've made it to April. We've gotten past the doldrums of January, the short days of February, and the Madness of March. Now it's spring practice time. We got new faces in new places and teams looking to find the right chemistry to compete for Championships in the fall. Let's take a look of the Six burning questions that we have for the 2024 HBCU football spring season.
New Faces in New Places
The Coaching Carousel was in full effect this off-season. Four teams in the SWAC Western Division alone made coaching changes along with FAMU out of the Eastern Division. Eric Dooley was fired at Southern but is now at his alma mater Grambling State as the offensive coordinator. Dooley's Associate Head Coach and Special Teams Coordinator Terrance Graves is now the Head man at Southern, while Alcorn royalty Fred McNair who was apparently headed to Texas Southern as the head coach until he wasn't, is now at Southern as Tight Ends coach for the Jags. Cedric Thomas is the new Head coach at Alcorn State after spending the last two seasons as Defensive Coordinator for the Braves, and Texas Southern hired former Houston Oiler Chris Dishman as their head coach. Hue Jackson was sent packing at Grambling and has been replaced by Mickey Joseph who was last at Nebraska as interim Head Coach. Over in Tallahassee the Rattlers climbed to the top of the mountain for the first time in over 20 years, and if they are to scale the championship mountain again this season it will be without Willie Simmons who's now at Duke. James Colzie III takes over as head coach at FAMU with lofty expectations coming off of a SWAC Titles and HBCU National Title a year ago. One of the biggest moves of the off-season was South Carolina State luring Chennis Berry away from Benedict after he compiled a 27-7 record as head man for the Tigers.
FAMU, Flash in The Pan? Or Here to Stay?
A season ago the Rattlers walked away with all the gold. The Rattlers win their first SWAC Football Title and first outright conference title in 22 years. The Rattlers became just the second SWAC team to win The Celebration Bowl after defeating Howard 30-26. The Rattlers were named HBCU Football National Champs and also finished the season ranked 5th in the FCS Coaches poll. All was well in Tallahassee until Willie Simmons announced that he was moving on. Simmons spent five seasons in Tallahassee reviving a proud program that had fallen on hard times. When Simmons took over in 2018 and lead the Rattlers to a 6-5 record, that was FAMU's first winning season since 2011. Simmons would win 9 or more games every year after that including a 12-win season a year ago. Simmons has since left for a position at Duke and now James Colzie III steps in as Head Coach. Colzie is a native of Miami, Florida that played collegiately at Florida State. He's well respected amongst the players, alumni, and coaches in the state of Florida. Colzie spent five seasons as Head Coach at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia where he had an 18-20 record as head coach. So does Colzie continue the dominance that Simmons started or do the Rattlers fall back into the pack?
Can Howard Repeat?
The Bison can play football folks. A year ago the Bison won the MEAC title for the first time in 30 years and earned their way to Atlanta for the Celebration Bowl. Larry Scott has slowly built Howard into a legitimate title contender and it looks like the Bison may be one of the favorites to win the MEAC in 2024. The Bison finished 6-6 overall a year ago with 4 of their 6 losses being by 4-points or less. The Bison brings back one of the more talented running back rooms in the country with Jarrett Hunter and Eden James. Defensively the Bison bring back 2023 MEAC Defensive Player of The Year Kenny Gallop Jr. The Bison will open up MEAC play on October 26th on the road against a Norfolk State team that should be much improved. They return home for games against Delaware State and a new look South Carolina State team before finishing out the year with two tough road games at North Carolina Central and at Morgan State.
Is This Finally the Year for Bama State?
Alabama State has everything you'd want as a program. They have some of the best facilities in FCS football, they have one of the largest fan bases in FCS football, they're in a football crazed state but the Hornets haven't won a SWAC Title since 2004 and only two SWAC Championships since joining the league in 1982. Since Eddie Robinson Jr. has taken over this program the Hornets have improved each year finishing 6-5 in 2022 and 7-4 in 2023. A year ago the Hornets defeated Southern, Grambling, and Jackson State all in the same season. Defensively Bama State fielded one of the best units in college football as they were ranked in the top 5 Nationally in several defensive categories including yards allowed per game and points allowed per game. The Hornets improved offensively a year ago but still put up pedestrian numbers for the most part. This season the Hornets welcome in former Texas Southern starting quarterback Andrew Body as the signal caller at a position that has been less than stellar for Alabama State for the better part of the last decade. The Hornets haven't had a Quarterback to receive All-Conference honors since the late Tavaris Jackson. With FAMU in a bit of transition, and Jackson State still recovering from the Prime era, Bama State could be the class of the SWAC East. Both FAMU and Jackson State have to go to Montgomery this season which isn't an easy place to play. Don't be shocked if the Hornets have a major say on who wins the SWAC East in 2024.
Are Southern and Grambling back?
For years in the SWAC Western Division, the title would come down to Southern or Grambling. Since the league broke into Divisional play in 1999 either the Tigers or the Jaguars have represented the Western Division in the championship game 17 times out of the 25 Championship Games. But lately both programs have fallen on hard times. Southern hasn't won the SWAC Championship since 2013 and is now of their fourth Head Coach since 2020. Grambling hasn't won a SWAC Title since 2017 and is now on their 3rd coach since 2021. Both Southern and Grambling welcome in new coaches who are familiar with the expectations at both schools. Terrance Graves is now the Head Coach at Southern, a place where he followed his mentor Pete Richardson to in 1994 as he started his career as a grad assistant on Richardson's staff. Graves wasn't the sexy choice or big name hire than many in Jaguar Nation were looking for but winning cures all. Up at Grambling, Mickey Joseph returns to the state where he made his name as one of the top recruiters in the country while at LSU. Joseph spent time at Grambling in 2014 and 2015 as a member of Broderick Fobbs staff before leaving for Louisiana Tech and then LSU. Expectations are always high at both schools so don't expect a lot of patience from either fanbase.
The Portal Gives and Takes
In today's world of college football it's safe to say the a few keys guys in the spring could very well be packing their bags for new places come May. We've seen this with several programs the last few years. The portal will give, the portal will take away. It's very well possible that player of the year candidates aren't even campus yet at their respective schools like James Houston in 2021. We may break these teamsand rosters down but nobody will know who, or what teams will have until later this summer when fall camps open up and the portal is finally closed.
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