Can HBCUs take over college football?

Two HBCUs sold out New York City’s Yankee Stadium. Over 60,000 Black people came to see football in the Big Apple, something that had never been done before. It really happened. The year was 1968 and the teams were Morgan State and Grambling. It seems inconceivable today but HBCU football was powerful enough to make the city too busy to sleep slow down; all of New York was focused on the Black college experience. That moment in 1968 represented the promise of what could be and Coach Prime believes it can happen again. 

On Saturday the nation’s #1 slot receiver, Kevin Coleman, committed to Jackson State University. Travis Hunter, the nation’s overall #2 recruit, committed to Coach Prime just weeks ago. Hunter and Coleman are elite talents and elite athletes fill stadiums. Full stadiums attract television cameras and the contracts that accompany them. Television contracts bring revenue and that translates to better facilities and amenities on campus. With new name, image and likeness rules, players now have the ability to make their own money, also. The stage is being set to usher in a new era, an era in which HBCUs are again powerful enough to make the world watch. 

Coach Sanders is looking in the past and seeing what will be in the future. He’s refusing to accept fear or the limitations that others place on Black institutions. Coach Prime is doing what needs to be done.