When Jackson State hired Deion Sanders as its head coach in September, there was an immediate new face for the resurgence of historically black colleges and universities. The man’s nickname is “Prime Time.”
Sanders, though, hasn’t been spending much time doing interviews. Instead, he has been hitting the ground running, trying to build Jackson State as a power among not only the HBCUs but also college football programs in general. Sanders is offering high-end four- and five-star prospects and has had immediate success landing signatures. Talk to a reporter when he could be pitching his vision to a five-star prospect about Jackson State? No thanks.
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But true to his nickname, Sanders recently filmed a Super Bowl commercial for Frito-Lay, during which he had media obligations. He spoke about pressing topics, such as potato chips. His favorite flavor is barbecue because, as he astutely said, “Come on, man. I’m from the inner city, you know, barbecue chips is it.” And Sanders used potato chips to perfectly put what he’s trying to accomplish at Jackson State into perspective.
The first topic? Opening the eyes of elite-level high school prospects to Jackson State or even HBCUs in general.
“It’s about the awareness and the understanding and the options,” Sanders said. “Sometimes, based on what’s at hand, you may choose this chip or that chip because the barbecue would probably not have been an option. We have options now. I was never recruited by an HBCU because it wasn’t an option for me. So now these five-star and four-star kids who you wouldn’t have never thought — we’re offering those guys. And we’re showing them.”
The second topic? Visibility and how a Frito-Lay commercial can help remind the world he’s a star.
“Having the visibility is paramount,” said Sanders, who will coach his first game at Jackson State on Sunday when the Tigers host Edward Waters College. “Did you notice that great head coach from Alabama, Nick Saban, what he did when other schools started closing the gap? He said, ‘I got to get a little more visible.’ So you start seeing Nick Saban in commercials, right? Because Dabo Swinney was closing the gap. The more visibility you got, that might lead to one or two more recruits. Then, the next thing you know, they are national champions again.”
This isn’t about how Sanders is building the Jackson State program. It’s about how now, in one of the more critical junctures of the social justice movement, Sanders is the frontman for what is happening in college football recruiting right now. Jackson State is at the forefront, but HBCUs, in general, have found more traction in the world of recruiting.
During the 2019 and 2020 cycles, just one top-1,000 prospect in the 247Sports Composite committed to an HBCU. In 2021, that number was seven.
Noah Bodden learned a few lessons during his recruitment. The most notable: It’s just different being a quarterback.
The three-star prospect from Middle Village (N.Y.) Christ the King Regional was rated the No. 1,981 overall player and the No. 66 pro-style quarterback in the 247Sports Composite in the 2021 class. But his list of scholarship offers didn’t match the rating. His recruiting profile lists Arizona State, Baylor, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Purdue, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and others. That’s a lot of Power 5 love for a quarterback who ranks in the 2,000 range.
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“When you get an offer, it’s not as easy as everybody thinks where you can just go ahead and commit right away,” Bodden said. “Especially with coronavirus. I’d get an offer from places I hadn’t visited. I couldn’t go and see those schools and take an official visit. And with most of these schools, they aren’t comfortable taking a commitment from you if they haven’t seen you. Being a quarterback is different.”
Through no fault of his own, Bodden wasn’t able to perform last summer during the camp circuit, and he didn’t have a high school season as a senior to improve his rating. No tape. No evidence of development. Nothing. So he was stuck with a poor rating, though plenty of Power 5 schools saw the potential. Some of those offers were committable, some weren’t. Maybe if he could go back in time, Bodden would have tried to commit to a school earlier or attempted to visit some campuses to accept a coveted spot as a Power 5 quarterback.
But Bodden was right. Quarterbacks are different.
Now, Bodden has taken the unfortunate circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and made a statement. Bodden signed as part of Grambling State’s 2021 recruiting class and, as a quarterback, has become a trailblazer in a movement that is giving HBCUs momentum on the recruiting trail. Bodden made his decision during a time when the Black Lives Matter movement is front and center, and he did so while never losing track of his vision of becoming an NFL quarterback one day.
“A lot of people look at it like, ‘Oh, my God, you had all these offers and you’re going to a smaller school — you’re never going to make it out of there.’ But I don’t see it like that,” Bodden said. “A lot of people have made it out of HBCUs. … If you’re good, they are going to find you. It’s the same thing as high school. If you’re good, they are going to find you.”
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A 6-foot-4, 216-pound prospect with a live arm, Bodden has legit NFL aspirations. But being in this circumstance, he also has had a lot of time to reflect on what his commitment to Grambling State can mean, both for his message about social justice and for other prospects who could be making similar decisions.
“It starts somewhere,” Bodden said. “It’s just small steps. You know, I’m just another piece of the puzzle.”
Prairie View A&M’s coaches were surprised when they landed a commitment from three-star offensive guard Luis Chavarria of Bellaire (Texas) Episcopal. Chavarria could hear it in their voices when he informed them of his decision.
Chavarria is Puerto Rican and Salvadoran. He had options to go to bigger programs, but the beauty of his decision is that he made it with his peers in mind, not just himself. Though he, too, is a minority in this country, he doesn’t consider himself to be at the forefront of the movement.
“Growing up, I was always around Black people, and seeing the Black Lives Matter movement and all that, it impacted me,” Chavarria said. “I wasn’t technically part of it, but I felt like I was just growing up and the experience I have had in my life. The conversations with (Prairie View A&M), you could tell they were a little surprised. It was between me and my parents who discussed it. With calls like this (with reporters), I feel like I’m actually making a difference. This is an important discussion, and just being a part of the discussion and bringing more awareness about how the HBCUs actually are great places … it is just great. And as my platform expands and I get more of a chance to discuss these issues, I will.”
Rated the No. 1,329 overall prospect and the No. 65 offensive guard in the 2021 class, Chavarria had reported offers, from Houston, SMU, UNLV, Vanderbilt and Syracuse. He could have played in the Power 5 or, at the very least, at one of the solid Group of 5 programs in Texas.
“My father always told me, wherever I go, people are going to find me if I have the talent,” Chavarria said. “I just feel like it’s the right time because HBCUs are going to get more interest because of Black Lives Matter and other activist groups. The first few years of my recruitment, HBCUs weren’t a part of the conversation. HBCUs weren’t going for bigger prospects because they couldn’t get them, but now with all the changes with what’s happening in the country, it has given them an opportunity to approach us and recruit us. When you look deeper, you see these are really good programs with really good resources and our goals can be accomplished there.”
Led by Sanders, Jackson State signed a class that ranks No. 86 nationally in 2021 and features four-star quarterback Shedeur Sanders (the coach’s son), four-star cornerback De’Jahn “Nugget” Warren, four-star wide receiver Trevonte Rucker, three-star defensive tackle Braezhon Ross and three-star wide receiver Baron Hopson. Sanders and Rucker are both top-350 prospects. Warren, who also had reported offers from Georgia, Alabama, Penn State and others, is one of the best junior college transfers in the 2021 cycle. Ross and Hopson are ranked in the top 1,000 nationally.
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“Not only is this an option, (but we are showing them) you could come here and be unbelievable,” Sanders said. “With Nugget, the No. 1 junior college cornerback in the country, he could have gone to a Power 5. Cool, you’re good. But you’re gonna be anonymous. Come here and watch what happens. And when he did that, he said, ‘Oh, my God, Coach, you weren’t lying. Look at this — everybody’s blowing me up.’ Because it’s a big deal.”
Jackson State has made the biggest splash. Grambling State landed its quarterback of the future in Bodden. And in Chavarria, Prairie View A&M found an anchor to its offensive line. Other HBCUs signed notable recruits in 2021, as well.
Three-star linebacker Sam Ofurie of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG is headed to North Carolina A&T despite having reported offers from Michigan, Syracuse and others. Three-star pro-style quarterback Kaden McMullen of O’Fallon (Mo.) Living Word Christian signed with Alabama A&M over reported offers from Mizzou and Northern Illinois.
There is an important question these players had to address during their recruitment: Can prospects who are being recruited by Power 5 schools still have the same college experience and achieve their dreams by going to programs with fewer resources?
While they might not be playing in front of crowds of 80,000-plus or appearing on national television every week, these players can no doubt still reach the NFL. On the eve of the 2020 season, there were 29 HBCU players on either active NFL rosters or a practice squad.
And the Pro Football Hall of Fame is home to 29 HBCU alumni, including Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State), Walter Payton (Jackson State), Michael Strahan (Texas Southern), Richard Dent (Tennessee State), Shannon Sharpe (Savannah State) and Aeneas Williams (Southern).
Williams began his career as a walk-on at Southern and developed into a five-time All-Pro pick and a member of the NFL’s All-1990s team. His father also played at Southern, and his father-in-law was a teammate of Lou Brock’s on the 1959 Southern baseball team that won the NAIA College World Series.
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“The kids maybe thought that there was not excellence or greatness coming out of HBCUs, but because of what is happening in the country, it is coming to the forefront that line of thinking just isn’t true,” Williams said. “If they give HBCUs an opportunity, not only can they play in the NFL, they will have cultural experiences that will be unique to even how they grew up. Once those experiences have now been brought to the forefront, these young people are just going and making a different decision. And they will be just as prepared as if they went to any other school.
“If politics is the thing that causes an awakening in our country, then it’s a good thing. One of the things about uniqueness about this country is the different mindsets, but that’s why we’re called the United States. … I think God has given each of us who are alive today an opportunity to do something for the betterment of the subsequent generations that will come after we hand off the baton.”
And Bodden is ready to take that baton as he embarks on his collegiate career. There was a time when he figured he would play for a big-time football program. But now, after signing with Grambling State, Bodden insists he wouldn’t change a thing.
“I have a chance to be different,” he says, “do something positive in this world and also accomplish my dreams. What’s better than that?”
That’s the power of what he — and others like him — accomplished during the most recent recruiting cycle. What happens next should be even bigger.
(Photo of Deion Sanders: Rogelio V. Solis / Associated Press)
