SWAC Coach Of The Year Tremaine Jackson & Prairie View A&M Prep For Championship Showdown

Prairie View A&M head coach Tremaine Jackson wins SWAC Coach of the Year as the Panthers prepare to face Jackson State in the 2025 SWAC Championship Game.

Prairie View A&M football team led by head coach Tremaine Jackson. | PVAMU Athletics

HOUSTON, Tx. — If Prairie View A&M head coach Tremaine Jackson had a theme song for his first season leading the Panthers (9-3, 7-1 SWAC), it might be Frank Sinatra's "My Way" or Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" — likely the latter.

Jackson was named the 2025 SWAC Coach of the Year as Prairie View prepares to face Jackson State in the SWAC Football Championship Game on Saturday.

But the honor, he emphasized, is shared.

Coach Jackson told HBCU Legends, "It's about the staff."

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 #𝐒𝐖𝐀𝐂𝐅𝐁 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫

🐈‍⬛ Coach Tremaine Jackson@generalmotors#BuildingChampionsForLife pic.twitter.com/sux2VJFI7l

— Southwestern Athletic Conference (@theswac) December 2, 2025

"It's first of all a testament to those guys and the way that they went about working. And Chase [Bingmon] being the Freshman of the Year is a really big deal. Along with the six other guys that made all conference," he said.

Freshman running back Chase Bingmon played in 11 games, rushing 143 times for 857 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 6.0 yards per carry. He also recorded 17 receptions for 122 yards. He was the "LIGHTNING" in the "THUNDER AND LIGHTNING" backfield duo of Bingmon and Lamagea McDowell.

PVAMUFBALL: SWAC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR!

Congrats to Chase Bingmon, who burst onto the scene with a monster debut season — 857 rushing yards, 8 TDs, and big-play impact all year long.

A true freshman making major noise in the SWAC.
Well deserved, Chase! 💜🐾🏈 pic.twitter.com/g0wsCrRKH8

— PVAMU Panthers (@PVAMUPanthers) December 2, 2025

Jackson Staying True To His Vows & Team

During his introductory press conference, Jackson vowed to build a winning program. Prairie View delivered, finishing the regular season with a 9-3 overall record and securing the SWAC West title with a 7-1 conference mark.

Jackson also promised to win the division — and he did — while positioning the Panthers one victory away from bringing home a SWAC championship trophy.

Saturday’s contest marks Prairie View’s third trip to in five years to challenge for the conference title. Jackson’s squad enters more balanced and complete than the 2021 and 2023 teams led by Eric Dooley and Bubba McDowell who fell to Jackson State and Florida A&M, respectively.

All Conference Stars Fuel The Panthers' Rise

Seven Panthers earned All-SWAC honors this season, including Bingmon.

SWAC FOOTBALL – FIRST TEAM
Calvin McMillian – OL
Jyzaiah Rockwell – WR
Travor Randle – DB

SWAC FOOTBALL – SECOND TEAM
Chase Bingmon – RB
Travon Jones – TE
Malik Gucake – DL
Eric Zachery – DB

Jackson praised his players for their response to the accolades.

"Winning teams get the accolades... I think some guys got left off, but I'm certainly grateful for the guys that made it. And the cool thing is those guys all stood up in the team meeting today and basically said, 'They would trade all of that to win the SWAC championship.'"

He added, "It lets me know that we're headed in the right direction from a team standpoint."

Prairie View A&M’s Defense Driving Panthers’ Identity

Defensive coordinator Brandon Anderson has engineered one of the nation's top defensive units. Prairie View's defense ranks No. 1 in the SWAC and No. 3 in the FCS, allowing just 269.4 yards per game.

The Panthers have limited opponents to 4.54 yards per play, giving up only 3,233 total yards and 22 touchdowns across 12 games.

Prairie View is also the top-ranked FCS team in pass defense under defensive backs coach, Darren Garrigan, allowing just 125.8 yards per game.

Travor Randle - PVAMU Safety | PVAMU Athletics

In addition, opponents have converted only 29.7 percent of third-down attempts against the Panthers.

The defense ranks No. 6 nationally in first downs allowed (188), just behind Jackson State at No. 5 (187).

However, Prairie View sits at No. 50 in the FCS in rushing defense, giving up 143.6 yards per game. Jackson State is No. 12 in the same category.

Five teams have rushed for more than 150 yards on Prairie View this year. Two of those games resulted in losses:

• Rice - 347 (L)
• Northwestern (LA) - 158 (W)
• Southern - 166 (W)
• Alabama State - 213 (L)
• UAPB - 173 (W)

Prairie View defeats MVSU | PVAMU Athletics

Panthers Focused Ahead Of Championship Week

As Prairie View prepares for the title game, Jackson said he is pleased with the team’s approach during finals week.

"The team's spirit is pretty good. We just got out of practice. We kind of move some things around with practice to try to simulate the time of day that we're playing, and we have finals going on. I thought these guys really handled the practice the right way, but what they've asked me to do is keep it normal... We're keeping it like a normal away trip. We've handled those pretty well throughout the year," Jackson noted.

The 2025 SWAC Championship Game between Prairie View A&M and Jackson State kicks off at 1:00 PM CT/2:00 PM ET from Veterans Memorial Stadium. ESPN2 will broadcast the game with Tiffany Greene on play-by-play and Jay Walker on color commentary.

Prairie View enters as a 7.5-point underdog. Jackson State has never lost a SWAC Championship Game at The Vet in the last four attempts, a challenge Jackson and his team embrace.

"Everybody knows what's at stake, and I think these guys are eager and excited to play. Go Panthers!" Jackson said.

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