What stood out in 2024: Coaches out, and JSU rules

NORTH CAROLINA A&T ATHLETICS

Shawn Gibbs returned to North Carolina A&T as head football coach after the Aggies fired Vincent Brown after two seasons.

For the first time since 2015, my top HBCU sports moment is not an event but an actual month.

November was brutal for football coaches, and the coaching landscape may never be the same again. So, without further ado…

Coaching dominos

It started with Elizabeth City State on Nov. 14, and, by the end of the month, nine schools had vacancies: ECSU, Lane College, Prairie View A&M, Norfolk State, Alabama A&M, Delaware State, Shaw, Mississippi Valley State and North Carolina A&T. The Aggies quickly filled their opening with Fort Valley State head coach Shawn Gibbs, which put FVSU in its spot.

Michael Vick’s hiring by Norfolk State made it eight openings as of Dec. 18.

Interim head coaches are just that – interim.

It’s been a long, long time since the pink slips flew like they did last month. Some coaches only had two or three years in, but the pressure to win sooner rather than later is just as prevalent in HBCU territory as anywhere else.

Tiger-r-r-rific!

Jackson State didn’t need Coach Prime time, only T.C. time.

T.C. Taylor guided the Tigers to their first Cricket Celebration Bowl championship in three attempts to earn the title of HBCU champions. JSU didn’t just win, it made South Carolina State look like a Division II team.

The Celebration Bowl also drew over 2 million viewers, a 37% increase from last year, which should keep advertisers coming back.

Legacies

Former St. Augustine’s track and field coach George Williams and Winston-Salem State coach/athletics director William “Bill” Hayes received their flowers while still above ground. Raleigh renamed a portion of the I-440 beltline the “Coach George Williams Interchange.”

And the city of Winston-Salem honored Hayes with a statue at Bowman Gray Stadium for his accomplishments as the Rams football coach and later as their AD.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

The SIAC’s Miles College and the CIAA’s Virginia Union earned their team and their conference some respect after their performances in the Division II playoffs.

Miles (10-3) defeated Carson-Newman in the first round before losing to No. 1-seed Valdosta State. Virginia Union (10-4) went on the road and knocked off Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne before also losing to Valdosta. Now, SHADDUP!

Trifecta

Norfolk State lost to Howard in the MEAC tournament championship and had to settle for a spot in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Shaking off the disappointment, the Spartans defeated Purdue Fort Wayne to win the program’s first postseason tournament championship since reclassifying to DI.

It also put coach Robert Jones in exclusive company as the only HBCU coach to win at least one game in the NCAA, NIT and CIT.

Media darlings

Whether you are a fan of gymnastics or not, Fisk and Talladega gymnastic teams were media darlings. Fisk’s Morgan Price won a historic USAG all-around national championship, while Talladega’s Kyrstin Johnson entered the record books with an individual title in the vault. Unfortunately, Talladega eliminated its program after one season, but Fisk is still jumping, and Wilberforce University is launching a program in 2026.

Thank you, Wendell

Wendell Scott, the first Black driver to win in all divisions of NASCAR, paved the way for other African American drivers like Rajah Caruth. The recent Winston-Salem State graduate won his first Craftsman Truck Series victory in March, becoming just the third Black driver to win a NASCAR National Touring Series race.

The sky is the limit for this Ram moving up the NASCAR food chain.

Canceled

It was one thing for St. Augustine’s to drop its football program but quite another to have its entire athletics season suspended by the CIAA, forcing the elimination of football divisions and the reworkings of team schedules.

The conference has since extended the suspension to indefinite and with the Falcons losing their accreditation, maybe it’s time to find a new home.

Sweet 16

A CIAA women’s basketball team hadn’t advanced to the Sweet 16 since Bowie State in 2017-18 season.

Despite all the drama Fayetteville State endured heading into the 2023-24 season, including the firing of its head coach, the Broncos rode the leadership of then interim coach Tyreece Brown, won a record 29 games en route to two straight upsets in the Atlantic Region tournament before falling to the top seed. It was a performance worthy of a Hollywood script.

Welcome home

After eight long years – minus one canceled season – the CIAA football championship game returns to Durham in 2025. The game left in 2017 for Salem, Virginia, but never had the success it garnered in Durham.

Understandably, the conference wanted to expand in other markets, but when it comes to CIAA and sports, keep it in the South. Same goes for the basketball tournament.

Bonitta Best is sports editor at The Triangle Tribune in Durham.

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