Just 24 hours after SWAC Football Media Day, it was the CIAA’s turn to take center stage, setting the plate for what’s to come in the 2024 season.
Here are five of the top storylines to come from CIAA Football Media Day.
1. Bluefield State has nothing to lose
In the first set of team interviews at CIAA Media Day, Bluefield State head coach Davon Morgan lifted the CIAA championship trophy, sitting in front of the stage.
When Media Day host Stan Lewter pointed out that picking up the trophy does not bring good luck, Coach Morgan gave a fiery response in which he provided a look into his mindset entering the 2024 season.
“I don’t believe in luck now,” said Morgan. “Preparation means the opportunity is supposed to happen. I’m supposed to be here, I was supposed to touch [the trophy], that’s how we feel. We ranked last [in the CIAA’s predicted order of finish], so what have we got to lose? Remember, when you come to play Bluefield, we come to play you. The rent is due.”
The Big Blue are coming off their first season as an official member of the CIAA, in which they finished with a 1-9 overall record and went winless in eight conference contests.
The team fired head coach Tony Coaxum, who had been with the team since its football program was revived in 2021 and hired Morgan to replace him.
Morgan returns to the CIAA after stints as an assistant coach with Virginia State in 2015 and Elizabeth City State in 2021.
Morgan served on the Florida A&M coaching staff for the past two seasons, helping lead the team to its first SWAC title and a win in the Celebration Bowl.
2. WSSU is everyone’s Super Bowl
Winston-Salem State’s motto is “It’s hard to be a Ram,” and that is exemplified by the mentality they have seen from teams when lined up against them.
All-CIAA quarterback Daylin Lee gave pointed remarks about his observations from his freshman season with the Rams, noting that WSSU is everyone’s Super Bowl.
“I’m used to if we get beat it’s [our opponent’s] Super Bowl so I just took that and I got used to it,” said Lee. Our phrase ‘It’s hard to be a Ram’ I learned that pretty quick. We’re getting everybody’s best every week.”
After dropping their first two games of the season last year, the Rams split their remaining eight games, accounting for the most conference wins they’ve had in a season since 2018.
However, their 4-6 overall record marked the fourth season in a row with a mark below .500, the longest streak of losing years since returning to the CIAA in 2011.
3. Bowie State looks to get back to its winning culture
Bowie State head coach Kyle Jackson made it clear that he is set on leading the Bulldogs back to its winning culture in his third year as head coach of the team.
Piggybacking on Bulldogs’ defensive back Hasan Mosley, who said, “The small things will help you win the football games, and the small things [are] the reason why you lost the football game,” Coach Jackson talked about how this will help the Bulldogs get back to their winning culture.
“This offseason, we spent a lot of time challenging guys to get back our winning culture,” said Jackson. “Like Hasan said it’s the small things, doing the small things right, and making sure that we’re spending time on those small things so that way we can be effective and get back to those winning ways.”
In the team’s first two seasons since former head coach Damon Wilson’s departure, the team has finished with identical 6-4 overall records each year, which Jackson notes “is not the standard.”
Bowie State is looking to return to its glory days in which they appeared in five CIAA championship games in six seasons from 2015-2021 coming away with wins in 2018, 2019, and 2021.
It was during the 2021 season, Wilson’s last before departing for Morgan State, that the Bulldogs went on its deepest playoff run in school history, making it to the regional final.
The Bulldogs have gone 13 seasons without posting an overall record below .500 the longest active streak in the CIAA.
4. Fayetteville State feels disrespected
Fayetteville State was picked to have the third-best record in the CIAA’s predicted order of finish and they do not take too kindly to that.
Piggybacking off of his fellow CIAA head coaches, Broncos head coach Richard Hayes talked about how FSU is another team’s Super Bowl and that they feel disrespected.
He also made it known that the Broncos are not going anywhere and that “he needs [his competition] to know that.”
Despite finishing as the 10th-ranked scoring offense in the CIAA and third in scoring defense, the Broncos still found a way to win their sixth straight CIAA South division title.
This is the longest streak of any CIAA team since Winston-Salem State won 10 straight division titles from 1983 to 1992.
Fayetteville State is seeking its second conference title in three seasons and its fifth conference championship in school history.
5. Virginia Union has national championship aspirations
The reigning CIAA champion Virginia Union Panthers gear up for a defense of their conference titles, but their goals go beyond this major accomplishment.
According to head coach Dr. Alvin Parker, the players in his locker room have talked about going for the ultimate prize of winning a Division II national championship.
“You look around, and for the first time, [the team] has talked about CIAA championships and things like that,” said Coach Parker. “But this year, these guys are talking about the national championship. So that’s the message that is going around our building right now and I like to hear it. It’s easy to coach guys when everyone is focused on the national championship.”
Only two HBCU teams have advanced to the Division II championship game neither of whom were successful (Central State, 1983; Winston-Salem State, 2012).
Last year, Virginia Union finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, clinching a division title in the CIAA North and a spot in the conference championship game against Fayetteville State.
The Panthers went on to defeat the Broncos 21-10, claiming their first CIAA crown since 2001.
Virginia Union enters the 2024 season, being picked to finish behind Virginia State in the conference’s predicted order of finish.
