The long-awaited return for HBCU football is finally upon us with three big matchups that will kick off the 2022 season.
Taking center stage is the MEAC/SWAC Challenge between Howard and Alabama State.
Elsewhere, Florida A&M heads to Chapel Hill for a matchup against North Carolina and Edward Waters faces off against Florida Memorial in the Big Cat Classic.
This season will certainly be an exciting one with a renewed sense of optimism that the best is yet to come in the HBCU landscape.
With that in mind, here are the five biggest storylines entering the fall.
New HBCU head coaches in new places
There are a number of HBCU teams that will either be debuting new head coaches or are moving on from longtime head coaches.
Former NFL head coach Hue Jackson has been tasked with turning around Grambling.
The Tigers’ rival Southern, who is also the favorite to win the SWAC West Division, is now under the direction of former Prairie View A&M head coach Eric Dooley.
Prairie View A&M, on the other hand, will look to get back to the SWAC championship game with former NFL defensive back Bubba McDowell as their coach.
The reigning CIAA champion Bowie State Bulldogs are entering the 2022 season without Damon Wilson who is now with Morgan State.
Meanwhile, Virginia State has enlisted the services of Henry Frazier III to run its program.
Alabama State, who will be representing the SWAC in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, will have Eddie Robinson Jr. in his first year as head coach.
Both participants in the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic, Central State and Winston-Salem State, each have first-year coaches in Kevin Porter and Robert Massey, respectively.
HBCU players, teams on the cusp of history
There is a great chance that the history books could be rewritten this season, with players and teams on the precipice of establishing new standards in HBCU football.
Southern defensive end Jordan Lewis is 10.5 sacks away from setting a new FCS record for career sacks.
Florida A&M linebacker Isaiah Land has a chance to become just the second player to ever win the Buck Buchanan Award in consecutive seasons.
Jackson State’s five-star cornerback Travis Hunter has already made history and has a chance to make even more with a big performance in his freshman season.
As a team, Bowie State has a chance to become the first team to win four straight CIAA titles since Morgan State from 1965-1968.
Should Fayetteville State make it back to the CIAA championship game, it would be the team’s fifth consecutive conference title appearance. Meanwhile, in the SIAC, Miles is looking for their fourth consecutive title appearance.
North Carolina A&T was picked to win the Big South conference. Should they do so they would be the first HBCU football team to ever claim a conference championship in the Big South.
Will the transfer portal bear fruit?
One of the biggest questions entering the season is what impact will transfers play on team success.
Southern is one such team who massively upgraded their roster through the transfer portal which could parlay them into a SWAC West division title.
Key additions the Jaguars made in the offseason include former All-SWAC defensive lineman Jason Dumas, former CIAA Defensive Player of the Year Demetri Morsell, All-CIAA defensive back Jordan Carter and FBS defensive back Corione Harris.
Florida A&M used the transfer portal to bolster their backfield securing former FBS running backs AJ Davis and Isaiah Connelly, respectively. Not to mention they also acquired Vanderbilt quarterback Jeremy Moussa, who was named the starter.
Alabama State added a pair of former four-star FBS recruits to their offense in quarterback Dematrius Davis and tight end Jaelyn Lay.
Bethune-Cookman has kept themselves busy in the offseason picking up former FBS quarterback Walter Simmons III, Western Illinois graduate transfer Malik Burns and former Jackson State wide receiver Corey Reed Jr.
In contrast, there are also teams that lost talent through the transfer portal. Most notably former Bowie State All-American defensive lineman Jonathan Ross made the jump to the FBS committing to South Florida.
Miles’ leading rusher from last season Donte Edwards committed to play for their division rival Tuskegee.
Delaware State lost their star freshman running back Sy’Veon Wilkerson who transferred to the reigning SWAC champion Jackson State.
Former Arkansas-Pine Bluff star defensive back Andre Fuller entered the transfer portal committing to Toledo.
These transfers will almost certainly have a huge impact on how the season plays out for each team.
Will these HBCUs will find stability at quarterback?
With many of the top quarterbacks from last season now moving on, it has left several teams scrambling for a replacement to fill the starting role.
The most glaring example of this is Alabama A&M, which will be starting a new era without former two-time SWAC Offensive Player of the Year Aqeel Glass.
Norfolk State is looking for a starter under center following the exit of All-MEAC quarterback Juwan Carter.
Meanwhile, reigning SWAC West champion Prairie View A&M is looking to repeat while no longer having Jawon Pass to direct the offense.
Alcorn State’s offense will no longer have former SWAC Offensive Player of the Year Felix Harper running plays.
Bowie State is looking for a new starting signal caller following the exit of former CIAA Offensive Player of the Year Ja’rome Johnson.
Grambling State is an interesting example of a team facing a quarterback controversy by way of the transfer portal.
Not only did they lose a quarterback in Noah Bodden to the transfer portal, but they added a couple as well, creating even more of a battle for the starting spot.
The battle for starting quarterbacks does not just involve teams moving on from a quarterback as evidenced by Florida A&M’s QB situation.
The Rattlers named Vanderbilt transfer Jeremy Moussa their starter going into their season opener against North Carolina. However, there is no guarantee he will be the starter for the entirety of the season with returning senior Resean McKay potentially waiting to relieve him if need be.
Will 2022 be the year of the HBCU football renaissance?
As previously mentioned, there is a lot of optimism in the HBCU community that greatness is not just coming, it has already arrived.
There was a time when some of the best players at the pro level were products of Historically Black Colleges.
From Jerry Rice to Walter Payton to Deacon Jones, HBCUs were a hotbed for some of the greatest talent the game of football has ever seen.
Even today, HBCUs still have a presence in the NFL with former South Carolina State linebacker Darius Leonard and former Arkansas-Pine Bluff offensive lineman Terron Armstead among the top players in the league.
After a year in which no HBCU players were taken in the NFL Draft, four players were selected in the 2022 draft including a pair of fourth-round picks.
Elsewhere, there were a plethora of 2021 class members who signed undrafted free agent deals and received an invite to the XFL Draft Pool.
This season will feature a number of players who will look to follow suit.
The advent of the HBCU Legacy Bowl and conferences signing lucrative TV deals has made talent more accessible.
