Prairie View has long shouldered the earned burden of being a black college doormat. If there was a homecoming to be won, a basketball scoreboard to be lit up, or a fan base to mock, the Panthers were your ticket to instant gratification.
But not only are those days gone, they are becoming a fast-fading memory amidst PVAMU’s current stretch of SWAC dominance.
South Carolina State, Prairie View A&M and Florida A&M have finished the year ranked in the Sports Network’s final Top 25 FCS poll.
We good with the rankings? Because I think I don’t have a problem with them.
Henry Frazier III, the head coach who brought respectability to Prairie View A&M football and the school’s first conference championship in 45 years, has been named the Eddie Robinson FCS National Coach of the Year, as awarded by the Sports Network.
There was really very little competition with Frazier for the award, considering the lengthy history of PVAMU’s football ineptitude. Frazier has won at least nine games in his last two years, broke losing streaks against Grambling and Southern this year, and was ranked in the FCS top 20, despite not participating in the FCS playoffs.
I am amazed by how transparent this coaching search has been for Southern. Maybe black college sports has jaded me to the point of believing every administration wants to be back-turned and closed-mouthed about the direction of their sports, that it surprises me when a schools doesn’t go the Danger Mouse route.
Anyway, Southern has interviewed former Jaguar and current Prairie View defensive coordinator Heishma Northern, who recently built the Panther defense into a championship unit and one of the best in FCS. Northern is the second person to be interviewed for the position, along with former Morgan State head coach and current Washington Redskins running backs coach Stump Mitchell.
Northern clearly is the better choice among the two. Recent success, direct ties to the program and an instant recruiting presence in Louisiana to accompany his established ties in Texas. Unless they have an Alvin Wyatt Sr. or a Kermit Blount to come out of the woodwork, SU may have found its man in Northern.
Is it possible to say that we could see an impossible occurrence coming from a mile away? Because that’s just what Prairie View A&M’s 30-24 SWAC football championship is; an impossible story with an outcome that was clear midway through the 2009 regular season.
You saw it coming from three years ago; Prairie View A&M is the champion of the of the SWAC Western Division and headed to its first SWAC championship game.
Saturday’s win added to the amazing turnaround, who were 1-10 and the worst team in the SWAC a season before coach Henry Frazier III took over the reigns in 2004. The Panthers are 34-26 since 2003, including a 23-5 mark over the last three seasons.
“It feels great because these kids have worked extremely hard, and this coaching staff has worked extremely hard,” Frazier said.
“My feeling right now is ‘from worst to first.’ We were worst, and now we’re first.”
You could make the case that the SWAC needs Grambling and Southern to contend for a title every year. Their classic is the one that fetches millions in revenue and national exposure. Their programs have the historic coaches and professional players of note. And in the SWAC, they are the programs of repute when it comes to recruiting power.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the Superdome this year; Prairie View A&M became the team to beat in the SWAC West. They’ve defeated Grambling State and Southern this season, and have very little obstructing the completion of one the most improbable of program turnarounds in college sports history.
The FCS top 25 polls have been out for a couple of days, and two things become apparent for the black colleges ranked within them.
South Carolina State will be hard to put out, even if they drop a game. And FAMU is going to be in a tight spot to earn an at-large bid thanks to Prairie View A&M.
In two days, Southern senior quarterback Bryant Lee will begin a quest to settle two personal scores, and to take one step closer to a SWAC football championship.
His first step begins in Thursday night’s nationally-televised tussle with Prairie View A&M. In two games against the Panthers, Lee has completed 49-of-84 passes for 482 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He’s 1-1 in those games, and nothing would be better than to go out with a winning record against a PVAMU team which has redefined itself as a conference powerhouse in recent years.
And for as much fun as it will be to watch the quarterback duel between he and PVAMU’s K.J. Black, a far more interesting story line is Lee’s last chance at cementing his status as a SWAC quarterbacking legend.
Marching bands, I can’t even imagine how hard you guys work to put magic and interest into black college football games. You aren’t just entertainment; you are ambassadors for the university and the community for which you perform.
But dangit, stop playing when the game is going on! From a SWAC news release last Thursday:
The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced today the Grambling State Marching Band and the Prairie View A&M Marching Band have each been issued a public reprimand for their actions during last Saturday’s Grambling State – Prairie View A&M football game.
