The Albany State Golden Rams finished last season 6-4 with a 20-15 win over the Fort Valley State Wildcats in the Fountain City Classic. That game represented a line in the sand that ASU plans to use to assert itself in HBCU football as a contender for the 2025 SIAC crown. “We return all 11 starters on offense from last year and nine on defense,” head coach Quinn Gray said.
“The experience we got with those guys last year and the way that we played in the Fountain City Classic, defensively, is the ‘Dirty Blue’ defense that we know. To take the momentum from that game and take it into this spring, hopefully, we’ll have a tremendous spring in terms of competition and turn that page from last year moving forward.”
The Golden Rams topped the SIAC in offense. If there was an area that needed some bolstering, it was the defense. If ASU can continue its progress on defense and expand its capabilities on offense. it should be in the position it desires at the end of the season. The Blue and Gold could look to be a top contender in the highly-competitive SIAC.
Gray returns to Bragg Stadium as opposing coach
The Golden Rams will play SWAC HBCU Florida A&M (FAMU) early on. The Sept. 13 game will be Gray’s homecoming. He is in the FAMU Sports Hall of Fame for his record-setting passing under legendary HBCU football head coach Billy Joe. Gray says he will be focused on the task at hand.
“It’s really a tremendous opportunity for us at Albany State to come down and play a good football team. We’re really trying to make sure we understand the magnitude of it. We’re going down to win a ballgame,” Gray said. “All of the outside noise with me coming back and all that good stuff. We really want to test and see where we are as a football team. To come down here and play well and hopefully come out of here with a victory is what it’s all about.”
Quinn Gray Jr joins the Golden Rams squad
This year, two Quinn Grays will be on the Albany State sideline. Quinn Gray Jr, who graduates from Tallahassee’s Lincoln High School this year, will be playing for his father this season. After a standout career with the Trojans, Gray Jr. decided to take his talents to where his father is coaching. Gray’s other som, Ashton Chaney-Gray. also graduates from Lincoln High School and will attend ASU as well. This is an honor for his sons to choose to play for him, but they get no favoritism from Quinn Sr.
“Quinn (Gray Jr.) and Ash (Ashton Chaney-Gray) signed to play for me. As a father, you just want to see your boys succeed. If the next level is afforded to them, then it’s afforded to them. Fortunately, they are good football players, and it’s not like I’m doing them a favor. I told them that, at the end of the day, if you’re not playing good football, then you can go somewhere else. Having them with me is a blessing in itself.