Jackson State University’s victory in the Celebration Bowl, more than meets the eye

Congratulations to Head Coach T. C. Taylor, his staff, and all the players on their victory against the South Carolina State University Bulldogs last weekend. The 28 to 7 victory means they are winners of the Celebration Bowl and the champions of Black college football. With that accomplishment in his second year as head coach, Taylor was able to do something not even the celebrated Deion Sanders was able to do in his three years and his unbelievable recruiting success.

As quietly as the full JSU football history is kept, Taylor and his team join three other having been recognized as National Black College Football Champions, beginning with John Merritt and the 1962 JSU Tigers, who upset the Florida A&M University Rattlers 23 to 6. In 1985, Coach W. C. Gorden led his team to JSU’s second national championship. This was followed by Coach James Carson and his team in 1996. This means Taylor is in good company; both John Merritt and W. C. Gorden have been ranked by a panel of ESPN experts as being among the top 150 college football coaches of all-time. (The ranking included both historically Black and historically white institutions.)

The local mainstream media has been diligent in reporting on JSU and the Celebration Bowl victory. At the same time, however, they usually, meekly, if at all, add that the win last week was the fourth time that Jackson State has been recognized as Black College National champions. Part of the reason for this kind of reporting could be because of their lack of understanding of Black college football history.

For starters, there are four historically Black conferences with football teams – the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), and the South West Athletic Conference (SWAC). The Celebration Bowl pits the champions of the MEAC and the SWAC. The other colleges are thus not involved in such national championships. 

Further complicating matters is the fact that in some years the Black college conference champions have elected to play in the larger NCAA college play-offs, skipping the idea of a Black college championship. In an effort to deal with the somewhat unique position of Black college football and the need for recognition at the national level, there have been various interconference competitions in the forms of the Orange Blossom Classic, the Pelican Bowl, and the Heritage Bowl. It was not until 2015, that the SWAC and MEAC officials created the Celebration Bowl.

When the mainstream media talks about JSU winning the Celebration Bowl for the first time in program history, they are talking about a very short period of the program’s history. Like JSU, most Black colleges have not had an opportunity to compete in bowl games. In 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019 North Carolina A&T won the Celebration Bowl. Grambling State won it in 2016. It was won in 2021 by South Carolina State University. North Carolina Central won in 2022 and Florida A&M University in 2023. Again, and from another angle, Taylor is in rare company, since there have been only six other coaches to have won the Celebration Bowl. It is new in everybody’s program. Congratulations T. C. Taylor, you’re still making history.

As a final recognition, we salute and appreciate Coach T. C. Taylor because he is an alumnus and fellow Mississippian. He found his success or made his success here at home. He was born in Magnolia, Mississippi, and graduated from Jackson State University in 2005. Of the other three coaches who have led JSU to national titles, only James Carson was an alumnus and native Mississippian. He was born and raised in Clarksdale and was a member of the famed team that won the Black national championship in 1962.

Although John Merritt taught health and physical education classes at JSU, he hailed from Falmouth, Kentucky, and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, after his Jackson State coaching stint. Similarly, W. C. Gorden spent most of his adult life in Pike County and Jackson, but was born in Nashville, Tennessee. This information is shared not to put them down. Gorden and the writer became very close colleagues, with this writer agreeing to assist in monitoring and counseling his players and going to bat for Gorden when he fell out of favor with the administration. In similar fashion the writer became close enough to Coach Merritt that Merritt occasionally turned to him to cover his health class when he could not be present. They were both very personable and professional. 

We point to Taylor and Carson with special pride because they possessed the additional quality and spirit of being “home boys.” On that note, we will say that it is our hope that T. C. Taylor will continue to succeed to the extent that he too will go down in history as another JSU coach who achieved the status of being listed among the top 150 college coaches in America’s history. This all adds up to being more than meets the eye on Saturday, December 14, 2024.