Maurice Flowers led Johnson C. Smith to a 7-4 overall record and a 6-2 in the CIAA record in his second season as head coach.
It was the Bulls’ first winning season since a 6-4 campaign in 2012 and the most conference wins since the 5-2 mark recorded in that season.
Despite JCSU coming up short in the inaugural Florida Beach Bowl to Fort Valley State, Flowers has wasted no time, using the success of the season to springboard into recruiting. He says those efforts have already paid dividends regarding the caliber of players the program is now attracting.
“It is definitely helping with that,” Flowers told The Charlotte Post. “We can see from the type of players that are reaching out to us. We were getting a lot of communication from some guys that normally might not consider Johnson C. Smith as a possible landing spot.”
Flowers indicated that they intend to become a primary option and not a mere safety net for players if things go awry at other institutions.
“Our goal is to just keep building off the momentum that we have right now. Johnson C. Smith has been, for a lot of folks, the fallback. It was the backup plan – ‘If I don’t get this, I’ll do that.’ We want to move to the front of recruits’ and families’ minds when it comes to getting a great education and playing some high-level football,” he said.
Johnson C. Smith will return nine starters in 2024 from the CIAA’s top-ranked scoring and total defense that allowed just 13.2 points per contest and 214.7 yards per game last season.
