MEAC/SWAC Challenge: A Generational Clash Of Coaches
ATLANTA — The Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge is set to kick off in less than a month, and the press conference attendees and coaches were filled with anticipation and excitement. South Carolina State head coach Buddy Pough and Jackson State head coach T.C. Taylor addressed the media inside Center Parc Stadium in downtown Atlanta. It's a unique dynamic between the two coaches. One is a certified HBCU legend coming off of a disappointing losing season after winning the HBCU National Championship. The other follows Deion Sanders, one of the most polarizing coaches in Black college football. Taylor hopes to continue Sanders' success and make his mark at his alma mater.
As the coaches differ, each program's goals differ besides returning to Atlanta in December for the Celebration Bowl. For Pough and the Bulldogs, the goal is to get on the right track after finishing 3-8 in 2022. "It's been a long time since we've won a football game," Pough said. "I don't know if you all have realized this, but we haven't beaten anybody since North Carolina Central last year. It's been a long off-season." Pough spoke positively about how the MEAC/SWAC Challenge has grown but immediately followed it by passionately saying, "We just want to play football at South Carolina State."
2023 will be Taylor's first season as a head coach at the collegiate level. His coaching experience against Pough is from his time at North Carolina Central. Additionally, Taylor has a lot of new faces on his roster, 60-70 players, to be exact. Many come from the transfer portal, a common entity after many players transferred to either follow Deion Sanders to Colorado or other places. But after seeing his team over the summer, he's confident they'll be ready. "The thing that we do a good job of is vetting those guys that we bring in," Taylor said. "You know, a lot of times I tell them 'you inherited other people's problems' sometimes, so you got to make sure you're getting the right kid. And we've done a great job of that.
"You know, I was concerned about the summertime and how all of it would gel with close to 60,70 new guys, but the chemistry has been crazy. It kind of scares me at times to see how well they come together and how quickly they did." Taylor was also asked about how it felt to experience "the quiet," presumably because the fanfare that followed Deion Sanders is no longer there. But Taylor smiled and responded, "What quiet are you talking about?" and explained how it's been a whirlwind, from media day to traveling to Detroit to speak to Jackson State's alumni association.
"I'm ready to get back to the X's and O's, you know," Taylor said. "I've been in suits a lot; I'm not used to this. I want to go coach football. "But it's been a blessing. I'm just taking this all in. I know God has told me a long time ago I will be in this seat. I didn't know it was Jackson State, but I knew eventually somebody would give me the opportunity to be a head coach, and I'm going to make this work." Taylor's journey as a head coach is just beginning, while Pough, who's been at South Carolina State over 20 years and in coaching for over 40 years, is on the backend of his legendary career.
Pough talked about how figuring out a college football landscape with the transfer portal and NIL being so prominent has been a challenge. Both entities indicate that, in his words, "It's kind of toward the end of an old man's time." However, don't mistake his comments as a sign of him calling it quits anytime soon. Pough still has a fire in him to lead his players and his program, doing what he's loved to do for over four decades.
"It's a joy for me to go to my office every day and mix with my coaches and players and all the people that run our program that way," Pough said. "So it's pretty easy, even though I've been doing this for 40-some years now, to get up and go to work in a way where I'm not thinking about retiring." Pough had some reservations about the musical selection of his players, which was a comical monologue that generated laughs from the crowd. Still, the winningest coach in South Carolina State history couldn't be happier than going into his office in Orangeburg, S.C. Aug. 26 is more than a battle between the Bulldogs and the Tigers. It's a representation of the present and the future of Black college football coaching.