As a former HBCU football player, I remember every single coach that coached me. While my head coaches at FAMU were Rudy Hubbard and Ken Riley, I remember every single assistant coach. In fact, we would come in more contact with an assistant than the head coach. That is the way it is supposed to be. There were 8-10 assistants, thus their impact was greater.
I was blessed to have one of the best special team coaches in FAMU history and I would argue with the number of all-conference and All-Americans under his tutelage, Anthony “Tony” Messina was one of the best-ever in HBCU football. He was passionate, coached with precision and cared about us as people.
On Thursdays before each game, we would forego our meals on campus and he would take the specialists out for pizza. Those conversations lasted for hours. He wanted to know how we were doing in school, how our families were doing, and most importantly how we were doing mentally. It wasn’t just about football, but how we were progressing and coping in life.
Walter Highsmith is one coach who is still loved by his players
My defensive coordinator was Walter Highsmith. He is one of the biggest characters ever in HBCU sports. He had a larger-than-life personality and one of the top-ranked defenses in the country. He knew how to get the best out of us and demanded it at all times. He was also known to play spades with us on long bus trips. He and assistant defensive coordinator Rick Kravitz would enter our worlds on those long bus rides and in those moments reaffirm to us that they were one of us. However, we knew when they put on the coach hat that they were to be respected as such.
They were hard on us when they needed to be. They knew when to pull back if our mental was at a breaking point. We could go to them for advice on anything. Whether it was an issue at home, an issue with a girlfriend, or coping in class, these wise coaches never steered us wrong. This is why so many college student-athletes look back at their coaches as father and mother figures.
While everyone doesn’t have the platform of Coach Prime or Dawn Staley, there are coaches up and down the HBCU realm who are being that father figure that these robust but fragile athletes need. College football players are taught and raised to be rough on the football field. However, underneath those pads and helmets are young black men trying to find their way in a society that is not necessarily geared toward their natural being.
Vanessa Blair-Lewis personified leadership in HBCU women’s basketball
Former Bethune-Cookman women’s basketball coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis comes to mind as one who fits this description. She was tough as a coach and got results from the Lady Wildcats winning MEAC championships. However, she was also known to care deeply for her student-athletes and had a sensational graduation rate.
Corporate America bans many of the creative hair designs that are popular with young black men. The use of slang words in a public setting often puts a young black male in a position to be categorized. It’s no secret that it is tougher for HBCU grads to prosper in the general society because of the image placed on its cultural traits. Visible tattoos, which are very common, are not always a plus for a young student-athlete heading into the world.
Riley was a stickler for education. He was pushing his entire time coaching at FAMU for someone to follow in his footsteps as a Rhodes Scholar candidate. He had several All-Americans and sent players off to the NFL, but there is no doubt in my mind that if one of us had been able to attain that Rhodes Scholar recognition, he would have regarded it as his greatest achievement as a coach.
When student-athletes are away from home, they need someone they can respect for advice. They also know that they need someone to tell them the truth about things, not just be a listening board as friends often are. Coaches shoot straight and it draws the student-athletes closer when they can get a real analysis of a situation from someone who has been there.
Pam Oliver remembers her coach giving her great life advice
Fox Sports sideline reporter Pam Oliver once spoke of the impact of her track & field coach at FAMU, Bobby Lang. “Coach Lang did not like my boyfriend at all…in the end, he was correct, he was correct that my boyfriend at the time was not the best,” she said. While that fatherly judgment had nothing to do with Oliver’s record-setting career on the track at FAMU, it did help her along in her life’s journey. It was so impactful that she has never forgotten it.
Some coaches that come to mind as those great mentors were Eddie Robinson, Jake Gaither, Pete Richardson, Rod Broadway, Bill Hayes, Larry Little and so many more. The job of father or mother figure comes with the title of coach. Nowhere is that more important than in our illustrious HBCUs.