Alabama State quarterback Andrew Body, the reigning HBCU Player of the Year winner, has changed course. After entering the transfer portal following the 2025 season, Body is coming back to ASU.
ASU head coach Eddie Robinson spoke to the media on Friday and reported his quarterback was coming back.
“The whole portal aspect of it has been challenging at times,” Robinson told the media. “But it’s just part of football, so I think it’s part of what you have to endure through. But he’s a kid who can do a lot of different things with ball. So we’ve kind of seen that.”
One of the new faces in the building will be on the sideline. Offensive coordinator Chris Barnette has departed for North Carolina Central and Tony Hull has been announced as his replacement. He isn’t new to the HBCU world or the SWAC.
“Tony Hull is a guy that I’ve admired — just watching his work,” Robinson said. “New Orleans guy. Also coached at Grambling so we played him, of course against Pine Bluff last year. It’s some of the same carry-over from what we were doing a year before. I think with all the success we’ve had offensively, you don’t want to try to start things from scratch. I think he has his own twist on it, but it’s still a lot of the same — similar concepts. So I think from a learning perspective the kids will be able to pick up on it and still play fast and try to have that same level of explosiveness that we had last year.”
Indeed, the Alabama State offensive was explosive in 2025. ASU averaged 42.2 points per game as Andrew Body was super efficient when on the field. He completed 70.5 percent of his passes for 1,170 yards and 20 touchdown passes. He threw just one interception all season and ran for 518 yards and four touchdowns.
But it isn’t just Andrew Body’s talent that makes his return critical for the ASU.
“And he has some good leadership ability, too,” Body said. “So that’s what you’re looking for when it’s so many new people in the building — to try to find that next group of leaders who are going to stand up.”
The return of Andrew Body is huge, not just for Alabama State, but for HBCU football. The transfer portal has created a vortex that usually swallows up the best HBCU talent. Body had interest from several FBS programs but clearly not enough to leave Montgomery.