WATCH: Brick x Brick | Changing the Culture at Johnson C. Smith
Second-year head coach Maurice Flowers is looking to turn the Johnson C Smith University (JCSU) football program from perineal basement dwellers into a CIAA and Division II powerhouse. HBCU Gameday was given behind-the-scenes access to film the Golden Bulls’ off-season spring football program for a Gameday Original documentary titled “Brick x Brick | Changing the Culture at Johnson C. Smith”.
The 30-minute documentary combines Coach Flowers’ strategic insights with candid interviews from players and high-intensity “hard knocks” style footage of spring practices and scrimmages to craft a narrative that takes fans deep inside the process of creating a winning football team with Coach Flowers and his staff.
The documentary opens with JCSU taking a trip to the home of the Carolina Panthers for a spring practice while new turf was being installed to replace the grass at Eddie McGirt Field.
GOLDEN BULLS AT THE BANK – SPRING PRACTICE WITH THE CAROLINA PANTHERS
“It’s a dream come true for me to have our young men get an opportunity to practice in the NFL stadium,” said Flowers. “You want to be a winner in this town and that’s part of what we say when we’re recruiting; this is John Johnson C Smith University in Charlotte and we have a lot to offer. There’s some things that can only happen at Johnson C Smith University and in the city of Charlotte and you can’t get this any place else.”
The Johnson C. Smith football program is on a mission to rewrite its story after a recent history of losing. “We really can look at how teams celebrate at the end of each game. When you have teams celebrating a win against Johnson C Smith that’s something that you don’t want to happen again,” said Coach Flowers on the recent history of JCSU football.
The documentary also features interviews with four JCSU players – Jaden Lockhart (WR), Gerald Nathan Jr. (LB), Tyrell Jackson (QB), and Ja’Quavis Smith (LB) – Giving the student-athletes themselves a chance to tell the stories of their paths to Johnson C. Smith.
BAND OF BROTHERS – MEET THE 2023 JCSU GOLDEN BULLS
From the heartbreak of transferring from an SEC school after a coaching change to working at FedEx while making their way back to the game. The HBCU Gameday original documentary puts the grind of student-athletes into perspective by hearing about the obstacles they’ve overcome while also seeing the work they’re putting in to make their dreams a reality.
Brick x Brick | Changing the Culture at Johnson C. Smith is out now, premiering exclusively on hbcugameday.com and The HBCU Gameday app before making its way to all of Gameday’s video platforms.
STILLS FROM Brick x Brick | Changing the Culture at Johnson C. Smith
