This past Monday, Deion Sanders became the Head Football Coach at Jackson State.
For those that don’t know, Jackson State is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). This past season Jackson State finished 4-8 overall and 3-4 in the SWAC.
The SWAC is one of four historically black colleges and university conferences(HBCU); the other three conferences are the CIAA, MEAC, and the SIAC conferences.
Deion Sanders is a huge deal for not just Jackson State University, but HBCU schools in general.
The first big signing this year for HBCU sports was Makur Maker signing to Howard University, but Deion Sanders becoming the head football coach at Jackson State University takes HBCU sports to another level.
Deion already has a Mississippi State freshman defensive back, Javorrius Selmon, transferring to play with Jackson State because he wants to play for Deion Sanders. That is the first of many transfers and signings to come.
This could get the ball rolling to get more big-name former star professional athletes to coach at HBCUs and current five-star athletes that are currently at these “power conference schools” such as LSU, Alabama, Kentucky, Kansas to transfer to a HBCU and change the narrative and bring the same revenue they are giving these PWI institutions to HBCU’s.
HBCU’s sports talent level in the 70-90s was astounding. During the 70s-90s, HBCU had high caliber talent such as Willis Reed at Grambling State University, Earl the Pearl Monroe at Winston Salem, Rick Mahorn at Hampton, Shannon Sharpe at Shannon Sharpe, Jerry Rice at Mississippi Valley State University, Michael Strahan at Texas Southern Dick Barnett at Tennessee State, Edwin Moses at Morehouse, Wilma Rudolph at Tennessee State, Yolanda Laney at Cheyney University, Doug Williams at Grambling State, Steve McNair at Alcorn State, and Althea Gibson at Florida State.
In the 2000s era, the talent level had dropped off. HBCU’s lost the talent level to the big schools because of “more TV exposure,” but with Deion Sanders, kids know the cameras will be tuned into HBCU sports, now that Primetime is in the building.
With what’s been going on in the news due to continued police brutality, if it isn’t clear by now the way people of non-African American descent think of African Americans, you probably live under a rock.
It is now more crucial than ever to focus on building up our own community because we are always helping other races, but when it comes to social injustices matters to African Americans, most people from different races go MIA.
It is time to take back what is ours, and what better way to start that by building up powerhouse HBCUs sports programs to generate revenue for our HBCUs and go toe to toe like the old days against these powerhouse PWI programs that were built by star African Americans athletes.
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