There was a time when Robert Massey stood on the opposite side of one of Charlotte’s most intense HBCU football rivalries. Now, he will walk into the same stadium wearing the colors of JCSU football.
A longtime CIAA rival is officially part of Johnson C. Smith’s coaching staff. Former Winston-Salem State head coach Robert Massey — who faced Maurice Flowers four times and dropped three straight in the renewed rivalry — is returning home to Charlotte. Reports indicate that he will become the Golden Bulls’ cornerbacks coach.
In true HBCU fashion, he will do it alongside one of his close friends.
From Rivalry Week to Reunion
Not long ago, this matchup carried real edge.
“Winston-Salem State wants to beat Johnson C. Smith,” Flowers said during rivalry week last season. “This is a rivalry game. We’ve beaten them two years in a row for the first time since ’75-’76, and we know they’re coming hungry.”
At the time, Massey led WSSU. He even called Flowers during game week to ask for tickets. That moment showed how HBCU football blends competition with connection.
“Normally we don’t talk during game week,” Flowers joked. “But I’m going to oblige.”
Today, the silence is gone. So is the sideline divide.
According to Herbert L. White of the Charlotte Post, Massey is returning to Charlotte to bolster the JCSU football cornerback room. That’s the same position he starred at for North Carolina Central before launching a 10-year NFL career with the Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints.
For Flowers, the move represents more than nostalgia.
“A lot of times as a head coach, you get away from what you were really good at, what you cut your teeth with,” Flowers said to the Charlotte Post. “For Robert Massey, he was coaching corners, and he’s just hungry to get back home.”
Flowers meant that literally and symbolically.
“I say get back home in a couple of different ways. Him being a Charlottean, a graduate of Garinger High School, he’s coming back home. I’m just excited because it’s not often that you get a chance to add someone of his caliber. He’s really a lot like (former linebackers coach David) Bowser — someone that’s been a head coach. We’re bringing someone on board that is a hometown hero from Charlotte.”
NFL Pedigree Meets CIAA Experience
Massey’s résumé stretches far beyond this rivalry.
He was a second-round NFL Draft pick in 1989. He earned All-Rookie honors with the Saints and later made the 1992 Pro Bowl with the Phoenix Cardinals. After 10 seasons in the league, he transitioned into coaching.
He later served as head coach at Shaw and Winston-Salem State. His overall record sits under .500 — 25-34 at WSSU and 16-45 at Shaw. Still, Flowers sees value that doesn’t show up in box scores.
“You’re getting somebody that’s good, that’s bringing so much credibility to the staff having sat in the head coach chair,” Flowers said. “Someone that knows how to recruit and someone that knows the lay of the land in Charlotte.”
He also pointed to recruiting.
“The Charlotte area’s a big-time recruiting area for Johnson C Smith University football. You’re bringing a guy that can coach the cornerback position like no other. He’s been away from it for a little while having been a head coach, but I’m just so excited.”
Defensive Staff Changes Signal Growth
The Golden Bulls run a 4-2-5 system built on speed and versatility. In that scheme, cornerback play matters.
Massey joins a reshaped defensive staff. Chi-Emeke Worthington will move from safeties to nickel. James Lott shifts from cornerbacks to safeties. Two defensive spots remain open after David Bowser left for Albany State and Kevon Fly moved on to other opportunities.
“Massey is very familiar with our 4-2-5 system,” Flowers said. “Coach Lott has been a defensive coordinator and a very successful one. With coach Worthington going to nickels, it really is going to benefit our staff. We’re going to have more quality coaches coaching our players, and that’s what it’s really all about.”
Flowers framed the transition as evolution.
“We’re having some change in our program,” he said. “But one thing’s for sure — if you just look at what we’ve done, you know we have not gone backwards. Everything about us has been about moving forward.”
He made the message clear.
“We might have lost a couple, but we’re going to get better. We’re not going to stay the same. We’re not going to go backwards. We must keep getting better. Adding Robert Massey to the staff is a sign that we’re getting better.”
What This Means for Brick x Brick
If you’ve followed JCSU football’s rise through Brick x Brick — often called the “Hard Knocks of HBCU football” — you know how much the coaching staff shapes the story.
The docuseries, now in its fourth year, has captured raw staff meetings, sideline exchanges, and the emotional climb to a CIAA title and Division II playoff berth. The coaches’ voices carried weight. They weren’t background noise. They were central characters.
Season 4 is sure to feel different.
Both Kevon Fly and David Bowser’s voices are gone. Massey’s enters the room. A former rival now speaks inside the same locker room he once tried to silence.
That shift changes the tone. It also deepens the storyline.
In HBCU football, today’s opponent can become tomorrow’s architect.
For Massey, the journey comes full circle. From Garinger High to NCCU. The NFL to CIAA sidelines. And now from tense rival to trusted ally.
For Flowers, it’s another calculated move for a JCSU football program that isn’t standing still.