CIAA football shifting power

Change has arrived for CIAA football.

The league has five new coaches and undergoing a shift in power from the South Division to the North, where Bowie State and Virginia Union both earned berths in the Division II playoffs last year. Three Southern Division schools are undergoing dramatic changes as cross-town rivals Shaw and St. Augustine’s reboot with new coaches and Fayetteville State turned to rival Winston-Salem for its new coach, Richard Hayes.

Here’s some of the storylines for 2016:

• Johnson C. Smith’s second year under coach Kermit Blount. The Golden Bulls (4-6) overcame a slow start with a three-game win streak that put them within a game of .500. The key to moving up the pecking order is more consistency on offense, which JCSU lacked last year with freshman quarterbacks Jordan Lane and Harold Herbin sharing the duties. Lane emerged from spring drills as the starter with a full practice period under offensive coordinator Tory Woodbury.

“The order is much quicker, much smoother,” sophomore center Jordan Shaw said during spring drills. “People know their assignment a whole lot more, studying the film. Everything is put together a lot better.”

The Golden Bulls were above average on the other side of the ball, but CIAA Defensive Player of the Year and two-time All-America Austin Jacques graduated, which will leave a sizeable hole. JCSU does return All-America safety Carlo Thomas, who led all college divisions with 12 interceptions last year.

• North stars. Virginia Union, Virginia State and Bowie State have the returning personnel to win the league title game in Durham.

Each fashioned a winning record in 2015 and positioned for similar results with Virginia Union (8-2) perhaps the CIAA’s most physical team while Virginia State (6-4) is transitioning with a new coach in Reggie Barlow. Bowie State (9-3) won the division and return 16 starters.

• Can anyone in the South challenge Winston-Salem State? Shaw beat the Rams 32-25 last year while Livingstone and Fayetteville State were within a field goal of pulling off upsets. Shaw and Fayetteville are rebuilding while Livingstone has a new quarterback. JCSU might be able to contest the champions if the Golden Bulls find an answer at quarterback.

• Winston-Salem State aims to repeat as champion. The Rams struggled early in the season but caught fire late and snatched the title game from Bowie State with a 17-14 win.

Despite a subpar (by WSSU standards) 6-5 record and no NCAA postseason berth in 2015, WSSU will be the odds-on favorite to win the South Division again.

• New head coaches: Nearly half the league has turned over with Barlow at Virginia State, Tim Chavous (St. Augustine’s), Richard Hayes (Fayetteville State), Adrian Jones (Shaw) and Earnest Wilson (Elizabeth City State).

Respect at large. Some may argue the league should’ve gotten three invitations to the NCAA playoffs, but the selection committee found WSSU’s record wanting. Still, Bowie State and Virginia Union advanced to the tournament. That represents a step forward for the CIAA, which has battled national perceptions as a weak football conference.

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