The 2024 HBCU football season is right around the corner, but as we head into another season of controlled chaos, this one seems different. There is more uncertainty surrounding college football at-large than ever before, and HBCU football specifically.   

     Overall, the college football landscape has changed drastically, the guise and spirit of amateurism is gone.  Name, image and likeness (NIL), the transfer portal, conference realignment and the coaching carousel collectively, have upended amateur sports and contributed to some of the mystery surrounding the future of college sports. 

     The professionalization of collegiate sports has left HBCUs and other smaller schools in a precarious state. Already behind the eight ball, in terms of funding, the gap between the haves and have nots has gotten so large that it is difficult to say that they are playing the same sport.  

      Goliath is getting richer, and David is treading water. The nexus between growth, sustainability and equity is increasingly convoluted as HBCUs try to navigate turbulent waters.  Consequently, HBCUs are tasked with scrambling to keep up with the Joneses. Primarily, state-funded, non-profit, public institutions are now required to perform as for-profit, private corporations without the means or tools to necessarily do so. 

     Over the past few years, we have witnessed HBCUs employ different strategies to adapt to the changing landscape with mixed results.   

     In the MEAC, several schools defected the 50-year-old conference for the SWAC, Big South and now the CAA. Only Florida A&M appears to have managed those transitions successfully, winning the SWAC Championship and Black College Football National Championship in 2023. Bethune Cookman no longer resembles itself on the football field and has not experienced any success in the SWAC conference.  

     Likewise, North Carolina A&T, once the jewel of HBCU football, no longer resemble their former selves either. Hampton is faring a little better than NC A&T, but not much. It has been three years since they abandoned ship and these proud flagship institutions, that were once dominant on the field, only have a handful of wins between them. 

     Each left the MEAC voluntarily for the promised land and yet, for whatever benefit they may perceive; the cost of prolonged student and alumni dissatisfaction is high. While win-loss records are not the only barometer of success, they certainly cannot be ignored either. Jobs hang in the balance, alumni giving, and campus pride are all interconnected to athletic team performance.

     Still the question remains, how do smaller schools keep up in this new paradigm? Some have hired outside agencies to do their bidding only to realize later, that they could have done the work themselves. Others are hiring former professional league front office personnel to handle their NIL and marketing functions. Most recently, another has proposed selling part of their athletic program to an investment firm, while another is selling the naming rights to the football stadium to a rapper. 

     While it is too soon to determine which of these aforementioned strategies is wisest in the long term, it is mindful to remember who you are and what you stand for. The infamous $237 million FAMU grifter is a stark reminder of what can and will go wrong if priorities are not in order. 

     On to the season ahead, from our perspective, the North Carolina Central Eagles are the team to beat. Despite a late season upset to the resurgent Howard Bison, the NCCU Eagles are perched at the top.