South Carolina State enters HBCU football training camp carrying consecutive MEAC championships and the expectations that follow them. Still, coach Chennis Berry refuses to let the Bulldogs approach the season like a program protecting its position.
“We’ll never look at ourselves as the hunted,” Berry said during 2026 MEAC Football Media Day. “As Bulldogs, we’re always going to be the hunter.”
The other five MEAC programs are chasing South Carolina State. However, each challenger must first settle a quarterback competition influenced by the transfer portal. The newcomers bring experience and options, but none arrives as an automatic answer.
That uncertainty matters because every conference program opens its season during Week 0. Coaches have less than a month to choose quarterbacks, establish offensive identities and prepare reconstructed rosters.
The official MEAC preseason poll placed South Carolina State first with 49 points and five first-place votes. North Carolina Central followed with 42 points, while Delaware State received 40 points and two first-place votes. Morgan State, Norfolk State and Howard completed the order.
The ballot established the expectations. Training camp must determine whether any challenger can disrupt them.
South Carolina State remains the standard
South Carolina State enters camp with the strongest evidence supporting its championship case. The Bulldogs led the conference with nine preseason first-team All-MEAC selections, including Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Jordan Franklin.
Running back Tyler Smith also received first-team recognition. Meanwhile, three Bulldogs made the first-team defensive line, and two offensive linemen earned first-team honors.
That recognition suggests South Carolina State has greater stability than its challengers. However, the program has not published an updated 2026 roster, limiting a complete evaluation of its returning personnel and quarterback room.
Berry believes the Bulldogs’ advantage extends beyond the depth chart. He pointed toward the program’s established culture and player retention during Media Day.
“Our program, our culture has been established,” Berry said. “I’m so proud of our returning players because, with so many things happening and guys leaving programs now, the guys in our program love our program.”
South Carolina State does not need to prove Berry’s approach can win the MEAC. The Bulldogs must show their returning foundation remains strong enough to withstand five programs searching for answers.
NCCU’s culture-over-scheme standard faces a test
North Carolina Central received one of the most interesting preseason projections in HBCU football. Josh Jones earned first-team All-MEAC recognition despite attempting only seven passes last season.
That selection did not settle the position.
“This is our first year that we haven’t come in with a definite, solidified starter at number one,” NCCU coach Trei Oliver said during MEAC Football Media Day.
Jones entered spring practice with an opportunity to replace Walker Harris. However, former Citadel quarterback Cobey Thompkins and Nelson Layne turned that opportunity into a three-player competition.
“I was expecting Josh to come out of spring being number one,” Oliver said. “I thought Josh had a very good spring, but this is a quarterback battle.”
Oliver said any of the three could start. Therefore, Jones’ preseason recognition represents an outside projection rather than confirmation of NCCU’s depth chart.
As HBCU Gameday reported in its examination of NCCU’s quarterback competition, Jones offers familiarity with Oliver’s program. Thompkins and Layne counter with more extensive passing production from last season.
For Oliver, the competition also tests a larger program belief. He has emphasized culture over scheme while building NCCU into a consistent contender. That culture must now help the Eagles manage three quarterback candidates, a new offensive coordinator and the pressure of being picked second.
The eventual starter will inherit the conference’s top preseason offensive player. Chance Peterson returns after catching 48 passes for 720 yards, earning MEAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors.
New offensive coordinator Chris Barnette must develop an offense that creates favorable matchups for Peterson while identifying the quarterback best equipped to distribute the football. The scheme matters, regardless of the motto. However, NCCU’s culture will determine whether the competition strengthens the program or allows uncertainty to linger.
The Eagles were picked second because voters believe Oliver has built enough stability to survive personnel changes. Training camp will test whether that belief is justified.
Delaware State must construct a different contender
Delaware State’s 2025 breakthrough changed expectations in Dover. The Hornets were picked third and received two first-place votes, but the roster behind last season’s turnaround has changed substantially.
“We lost some players,” Delaware State coach DeSean Jackson said during MEAC Football Media Day. “Obviously, we had to rebuild. I think that’s just the dynamics of college football now. Year in and year out, you always have to rebuild and put another team together.”
Jackson estimated Delaware State lost approximately 15 graduates and another 10 to 15 players through the transfer portal. That turnover affected the backfield that powered much of last season’s offense.
Jayden Sauray provides returning experience at quarterback. Still, Jackson added quarterbacks from Houston and William & Mary, preventing the Hornets from entering HBCU training camp with a settled depth chart.
“Our team is definitely different,” Jackson said. “Last year, we had a heavy, structured run game. I don’t know this year. Who knows? It may be pass. It may be run again.”
The uncertainty is not necessarily a weakness. Delaware State could remain competitive with a different formula, particularly if one quarterback separates early. However, last season’s results will not transfer automatically to a rebuilt roster.
Jackson still expects Delaware State to pursue a conference championship. Camp must reveal what type of team will make that pursuit.
Morgan State has talent beyond its quarterback battle
Morgan State’s quarterback competition stands apart because Damon Wilson expressed confidence in the entire room.
“I think this is the most talent and the highest-football-IQ quarterback room I’ve been a part of since I’ve been coaching,” Wilson said during MEAC Football Media Day.
The competition includes returning quarterback Cameron Edge and several transfers. Edge is not a newcomer, but he enters camp without the starting position secured.
Whoever wins the job will inherit enough skill-position talent to make the competition consequential. Randall Nauden returns after leading Morgan State with 579 rushing yards and six touchdowns last season.
Preseason second-team All-MEAC selection Keith Jenkins Jr. gives the Bears another versatile backfield weapon. Jenkins has contributed as a runner, receiver and return specialist throughout his HBCU career.
He earned FCS Freshman All-America recognition in 2022 after returning two kickoffs for touchdowns. Injuries interrupted his development during the past two seasons, but a healthy final campaign would give Morgan State an explosive option.
The Bears’ quarterback will not need to carry the offense alone. Still, Wilson’s larger concern is whether Morgan State can convert its talent and improved foundation into victories. That question has defined the program’s rebuild under Wilson.
“We lost four or five games on the last play of the game or in the last quarter,” Wilson said. “Now you’ve got to finish.”
Morgan State has improved its depth, academic performance and organizational stability. The Bears now need steady quarterback play, a healthy Jenkins and better situational execution to make those improvements visible on Saturdays.
Norfolk State must rebuild without repeating mistakes
Norfolk State enters Michael Vick’s second season with another significant offensive reconstruction. None of the four quarterbacks who recorded a pass last season appears on the Spartans’ current football roster.
Junior-college transfers Deljay Bailey and Reginald Johnson headline the rebuilt quarterback room. Norfolk State also must replace its leading rushers and much of its established receiving production.
“It’s about preparation,” Vick said during MEAC Football Media Day. “It’s about having good football character, pushing each other, holding each other accountable and not giving games away. I think last year we gave a lot of games away.”
Vick believes better preparation and accountability can help Norfolk State finish games. That explanation will receive a difficult test because the Spartans must create operational consistency while assembling a largely new offense.
The transfer portal supplied options. Training camp must determine whether those pieces can function together quickly enough to compete in a compressed HBCU football conference race.
Vick expects the Spartans to play fast, remain poised and trust their conditioning. Speed becomes an advantage only after the offense understands its assignments and communicates consistently.
Norfolk State received one first-place vote despite being picked fifth. At least one voter believes the turnaround can happen quickly. The quarterback competition will help determine whether that belief is justified.
Howard has talent but needs an identity
Howard enters Ted White’s first season ranked last in the preseason poll. Yet the Bison placed four players on the first-team All-MEAC roster, tying NCCU for the second-highest total.
That contradiction makes Howard difficult to evaluate. Conference voters recognize the individual talent but remain skeptical about how quickly a new staff can organize it.
The quarterback competition adds another layer. Ja’Shawn Scroggins earned second-team preseason recognition, while Hampton transfer Isaiah Freeman brings previous starting experience. Neither distinction guarantees the job.
“I want you to see a physical brand of football from Howard University on the offensive side as well as the defensive side,” White said during MEAC Football Media Day.
White also wants a disciplined team capable of handling situational football. Establishing that identity becomes harder when the staff must install a new system and evaluate quarterbacks simultaneously.
His larger challenge, as explored in HBCU Gameday’s examination of White’s vision for Howard, is establishing a standard that reaches beyond the depth chart.
Howard opens against Alabama A&M in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge on Aug. 29. The nationally televised ABC matchup gives White little time to let the competition linger, according to the conference’s official season announcement.
A clear winner could accelerate Howard’s transition. A prolonged battle could leave the Bison trying to establish their identity while preparing for their opening opponent.
MEAC challengers need answers quickly
Every MEAC coach presented a believable reason his team can compete.
NCCU has three quarterback candidates, an established program culture and the conference’s top preseason offensive player. Delaware State believes its reconstructed roster can pursue another championship. Morgan State surrounds its deepest quarterback room under Wilson with an established runner and a versatile weapon in Jenkins.
Norfolk State expects improved preparation and accountability to produce better results. Howard has considerably more recognized talent than its last-place projection suggests.
South Carolina State can point toward something its challengers cannot: consecutive conference championships.
The Bulldogs enter HBCU training camp with the MEAC’s strongest foundation. The other five programs begin with quarterback competitions that could reshape the race.
One of those battles may produce the quarterback who closes the gap. Until that happens, South Carolina State remains the MEAC’s most credible answer.