By Nunnie Robinson, Westside Gazette Sports Editor
As a follow up to last week’s NOTS, former Alabama star Sam Shade, who led Miles College to 2 outstanding seasons, 1 undefeated regular season and a deep run in the Division II playoffs in ‘24, was recently hired as the football coach at Alabama A&M, a member of the Southwest Athletic Conference. Despite having an overall winning record at A&M and an alum, the athletic administration was apparently dissatisfied with the program’s progress under recently dismissed coach Connell Maynor. Former Alabama great and NFL defensive back Chris Goode replaced Shade at Miles continuing the HBCU trend of hiring former NFL players.
Here is the present and foreseeable future of college football on the higher levels. Former MVSU receiver Nate Rembert, who caught 7 passes in helping the Delta Devils defeat FAMU in Tallahassee, entered the portal and signed with rival Jackson State. After starting his career with Division II Edward Waters, JSU will constitute his third team in 3 years, which I find disturbing and disappointing. Entering the portal gives the players carte Blanche to sign with any team, usually the highest bidder, creating a one and done dynamic in what was previously known as amateur athletics. It is occurring all over the country and will continue until revisions are made and common sense prevails. Please know that I am not opposed to college players being adequately, appropriately and fairly compensated, but extremism shouldn’t be the order of the day.
Since 45’s re-election my confidence in America has diminished significantly while my attention to matters of race and social justice have exponentially increased. There will be a minority coach in the CFP finals, either Penn St’s James Franklin or Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman. The other semifinalists are Ohio State and Texas, representative of red states as are Indiana and Pennsylvania, distinguished only by their penchant for electing a convicted felon as president.
The New England Patriots fired Jerod Mayo after only 1 season, after compiling a 4-13 record with an unsettled quarterback situation and a poor, still developing team. Who does that? Fan disaffection, locker room dissension, and a poor performance are credited as reasons for dismissal. The owner, caught in a South Florida brothel scandal, blames himself for placing Coach Mayo in an untenable situation. I ask rhetorically: Wouldn’t he be a better coach in his second year based on experience and knowledge gained?However, those reasons could apply to several teams with losing records, not playoff bound. I’m certain race played a part in his dismissal though no one will admit it. This is the same area of the country that discriminated against Bill Russell when he attempted to purchase a home in a white area. And the busing bebacle in the 70s was painfully revealing. Other coaches with inferior records but given more time to fail or succeed remain employed. Only in America.
The Dolphins supposedly passed on Mike Tomlin because either he was too young or too hip hop. We Dolfans have seen and lived with that philosophical idiocy.
Though changes will be exacted, the CFP is evolving as scripted. It is my desire that the first historic CFP champion is led by a minority!
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