Deion Sanders' Support of McNair, Alcorn is about Brotherhood and Relationship
According to Jackson State's head coach Deion Sanders, Alcorn State's need for trainers should have been just a phone call away. Coach Sanders related to media, "I wish we had the relationship that we could call each other" because he considers Alcorn's head coach Fred McNair "a darn good coach."
Coaches have a brotherhood. SWAC coaches are rivals, but just as Grambling's Coach Robinson and Jackson State's John Merritt were enemies on the field, they were friends and respected one another off the field.
In New Orleans during the late '70s and early '80s, my high school band director at McDonogh #35, Lloyd Harris Jr., weekly exchanged music with his rivals like Mr. Hampton at St. Augustine, his cousin at John F. Kennedy, and Mr. Fernandez at Joseph S. Clark. Why? They needed one another because they lacked support from administrators.
HBCU programs usually have assisted other schools in and outside respective conferences. As Hurricane Ida was churning in the Gulf of Mexico and approaching the southern Louisiana coastline, the Tennessee State volleyball team became stranded in New Orleans. Jackson State learned of the situation and sent their buses to the Big Easy to collect the ladies and bring them home out of Ida's danger.
McNair and Sanders
Alcorn's head football coach Fred McNair, center, speaks with media during the Southwestern Athletic Conference annual Football Media Day at the Sheraton-Birmingham Hotel in Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Swac Media Day 15 Credit:© Eric Shelton/Clarion Ledger via Imagn Content Services, LLCCredit: © Eric Shelton/Clarion Ledger via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Last week, I watched a video of coach McNair voicing his frustration about not being informed before his team's practice that the players would not have trainers on-site. He did not explain how this occurred. But, who was responsible?
Coach Sanders was straight-to-the-point and addressed the issue:
"Now that's the problem of top, that's not him, that's a problem somewhere else there. That's a problem for him. We need to address that. And whoever is allowing that to happen needs to be checked...this man has a wonderful program, year, after year, after year. He wins, and you are going to allow that to happen to him. Please. That's one of my treasures in HBCU. We got to have his back," roared Sanders.
Respect within the brotherhood of rival coaches is not a new concept, but in these times, it's a necessity for HBCU sports to survive.