It has been two years since Deion Sanders left Jackson State football and the HBCU world for Colorado with the championship game partitions still on the field.
A lot has changed in HBCU football since then, particularly in terms of head football coaches. Out of the 21 HBCU football programs at the Division I level, 16 of them have changed head coaches since the start of the 2022 season. That includes the entire SWAC, minus Alabama State, who hired Eddie Robinson Jr. prior to the 2022 season.
The only HBCU football coaches on this level that were hired before Deion Sanders was hired by Ashley Robinson at Jackson State in Sept. 2020 are North Carolina Central’s Trei Oliver and Howard University’s Larry Scott. And Scott didn’t get to coach until spring of 2021 like Sanders.
Six Division I HBCU programs have dismissed their head coaches in 2024. Prairie View A&M parted ways with Bubba McDowell after a brief tenure marked by mediocrity and the arrival of a new athletic director. Alabama A&M’s Connell Maynor, a veteran with a respectable but unspectacular record, also saw his tenure end a few years the arrival of a new AD. At Delaware State and Mississippi Valley State, Lee Hull and Kendrick Wade were ousted following poor records and administrative changes. Even Norfolk State’s Dawson Odums, who worked under the same athletic director, could not escape the chopping block after sustained losing seasons. Vincent Brown Sr. seemed to have his AD’s public approval, but that wasn’t enough to keep his job after back-to-back one-win seasons at North Carolina A&T.
This rapid churn of coaches reflects broader trends in college sports but raises questions about its implications for HBCU programs. The influx of new athletic directors has been a common thread. Administrative changes often signal shifts in strategic priorities, and coaches without immediate success may find themselves on the outs as new leaders seek to stamp their authority on programs.
This impact even rolls down the Division II level, where Shaw University and Elizabeth City State are looking for new coaches a few years after hiring athletic directors.
Another factor is the increased visibility and pressure on HBCU athletics, especially after Deion Sanders’ transformative tenure at Jackson State. When Sanders took over in 2020, he brought national attention, significant resources, and a spotlight to the potential of HBCU football programs. His success at Jackson State—culminating in SWAC championships and multiple NFL Draft picks—seemingly raised the bar for what HBCU football could achieve. For better or worse, it also set a new expectation for immediate results, as athletic departments and fanbases began to demand Sanders-like impacts from their coaching hires. And it didn’t get any easier this season when Chennis Berry took over at South Carolina State for the retired Buddy Pough and won the MEAC in his first season.
But is this acceleration of turnover uniquely tied to Sanders, or is it a natural evolution of the coaching profession? Coaching turnover is a common phenomenon across all levels of college football, as win-loss records increasingly dictate job security. HBCUs, long hampered by budgetary constraints and administrative instability, are now playing a higher-stakes game, where the cost of losing seasons can no longer be ignored. The changing realities of the transfer portal and NIL can’t be ignored either.
This shift has benefits and drawbacks. On one hand, high turnover creates opportunities for programs to find the right leaders who can deliver results and meet heightened expectations. On the other, it risks undermining the development of programs and players, as frequent coaching changes disrupt continuity and institutional culture.
The days of Eddie Robinson patrolling the sidelines for 50 years are unlikely to return. But 2024’s dizzying coaching carousel reflects an evolving reality: HBCU football, once insulated from the intense pressures of Division I athletics, is now fully entrenched in the high-pressure dynamics of the modern coaching market. Whether this shift will lead to long-term success or short-term instability remains to be seen.
Ironically, it may have been said best by Deion Sanders as he broke the news of his departure to his Jackson State squad on that early December night.
“In coaching, you get elevated or you get terminated,” Sanders said. “Ain’t no other way. You either elevated or terminated. And it ain’t no graveyard for coaches where they die at the place. And either they gonna run you off, or you gonna walk off on your own recognizance.”