Earlier this week, Alabama A&M offensive coordinator Duane Taylor took to X, making a post in which he portrayed HBCUs as mere pit stops on the way to Power Five school.
In the now-deleted tweet, Taylor wrote, “Come to an HBCU, get EXCELLENT coaching, developed, and then maybe you can transfer up. These P5 are coming to HBCU’s (D1/ D2) daily for our players! You could be the next one!”
These comments were met with criticism from not only Alabama A&M fans but also a sizeable segment of the HBCU community.
In the aftermath of that post and the backlash that stemmed from it, AAMU head football coach Connell Maynor released a statement addressing the words of his offensive coordinator.
𝗔 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝗔𝗠𝗨 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗿 pic.twitter.com/HP7T20mK2K
— Alabama A&M Athletics (@_AAMUAthletics) December 14, 2023
“My staff and I are committed and dedicated to serving the University and the young men with the utmost respect,” he wrote. “This week, we did not exemplify those standards. A staff member made a statement that did not align with our mission. Many of our loyal fans, alumni, and students strongly feel this is not who we are as a university and I concur. Coach Duane Taylor has apologized and regrets his statement that negatively impacted the Bulldog Nation.”
