DeSean Jackson, Michael Vick, Chennis Berry, Trei Oliver, Ted White, Damon Wilson talk among top MEAC conference leaders on 2026 College football season and how experiences shape their coaching

Showing our brother's love by highlighting their commitment to young people on and off the field using their own life experiences to make an impact. In a special partnership with the NFL and the MEAC Football Conference- Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor sit with star head coaches DeSean Jackson, Michael Vick, Chennis Berry, Trei Oliver, Ted White, Damon Wilson and more to preview the upcoming 2026 college football season. Everything from Xs and Os, to expectations on how these coach's are mentoring and preparing young athletes for next level. This was filmed and recorded by ESPN for distribution on multiple platforms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

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• 0:50Ryan Clark?

  We're also now joined by DeShawn Jackson, Ted White, and Trey Oliver. There was just a mini argument now because DeShawn didn't see his jersey behind him like he saw behind Coach, and he was about to have an issue. DeShawn, it's funny, right now, you're the only one that's still in a suit. Right? Coach took off his shirt early on. He was suited and booted, had a tie on. Channing's excited because he want this HU sweatshirt.

• 1:16Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, that's fine now.

• 1:18Ryan Clark?

  But for you, DeSean, obviously I got to be a teammate of yours. I know the way that you worked. I know how much you love the game of football and how you poured into it each and every day on the football field as a player. Talk a little bit about the transition to head coach now at Delaware State.

• 1:35Speaker 04

  I think the transition is simple for me, man. You know, to have success is one way about going about it, your daily work. And I'm very personal with my players. You know, I'm able to get in there, I still don't own the cleats. I still feel like I can play. We were just talking about last night. I'm only three years removed from them. But you know, I think from my perspective, man, being able to get to the nitty gritty, man. I think for me, the coaches I respected was the one that could relate to me, you know, to understand what I'm going through in my daily life, you know? Because it's not always about football. You know, you may be going through something at home. So for me, I'm just very personal with my players and I understand them. I don't expect nobody to be perfect because we human, you know? We gonna make mistakes. But just to correct them and learn from them is the biggest thing I'm in this position for.

• 2:12Channing Crowder?

  And to be in the back, coaches, and y'all knew each other, y'all cool, but you gotta light it up sooner or later. It's a smaller conference. So just do y'all exchange information or try to, you know, figure out things in the offseason together and then break off and figure out how you gonna whoop each other?

• 2:30Speaker 05

  Last night was the first time we had an opportunity to actually collectively spend time together. And getting the chance to know DeSean and getting the chance to know Mike. And you know, obviously I knew Trey because he coached in Louisiana and we had an opportunity to go against each other a couple of times. Man, it's a blessing because you see that these guys are family guys, you know? To hear DeSean talk about his family. I've been knowing Trey a long time. For those guys to know my family. Mike Vick daughter, she's going to Howard University. So he said that he wants her to obviously work in the sports department and then to get a chance to work with the football team. So any way that we can help these guys, because again, we African-American coaches, trying to have an opportunity to build a culture around African-American men. You know, not only build them as football players, but being able to reach them and build them for the game of life also.

• 3:15Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, and with that, for the three of you guys, when we talk about MEAC and SWAC and HBCU, we usually talk about the culture. But for each of you, what standard do you look to instill in these young men that you just speak about?

• 3:30Speaker 05

  Just life after football. You know, this offseason, it was really important for me for these guys to get bigger, stronger, and faster in the weight room. But we also had an opportunity to have media training for our guys. We had a chance to, for alums to come in and actually teach our guys how to put together a resume. We talked to our guys about mental health awareness, right? Dealing with peer pressure, understanding on a structured schedule. But we also had an opportunity to talk to our guys on how to interview for a job. These are the tools that we're able to equip our guys to, obviously, when this game expired from us, being able to be successful outside of football.

• 4:09Ryan Clark?

  Trey, you know, you played the game of football. You played defensive, but you punted too, right? Could you really punt? Or were you one of those guys that punt that's also athletic that would act like he fumbled it so he could run it when he got back to him?

• 4:22Speaker 07

  I was all right. I was all complicit for you, you know?

• 4:26Channing Crowder?

  There we go.

• 4:26Ryan Clark?

  You know, but to get an opportunity to be at your alma mater, right? And pour back into young men who are in the exact same spot you were at that time? How much pride do you take in the position you hold, but also sort of mentoring or mentoring the next generation of young men to do the same thing you've done?

• 4:49Speaker 07

  Yeah, I mean, that's a great question because I would, obviously I'm an alum in no class central, but my mom and dad went there. And you know, I take a lot of pride in my university and it's a lot of people counting on me to take my university next step. But this game has been, become so transactional now. And for me and the rest of these coaches in here, it's about, nothing but about developing young men. And like Ted said, you know, we had cooking classes last week, teaching kids how to cook. We took them to a car dealership because so many brothers don't know how to change tires and just how to become a man, you know, all the way around. So I take a lot of pride and I'm so grateful for my university. They gave me opportunity, my first head coaching job. I've been doing this for 26 years and my school was the one that, you know, gave me the opportunity.

• 5:31Channing Crowder?

  I was gonna say, that's cool to hear, but as a football coach, isn't that a waste of time to teach somebody to change a tire or cook? You know what I'm saying? We should be in the lab. We should be breaking down couple of four, you know what I'm saying? But like, how do you just, I would say justify it, but where is your mindset on that?

• 5:49Speaker 07

  Football is football. You know what I'm saying? Obviously, you know, that's what it's about. We want to win championships and first and foremost, going to graduate young men. But somebody's gonna date my granddaughter one day, you know what I'm saying? And these young men, you know, for them to be great men and great fathers and great husbands, you know, they gotta be able to understand how to survive and how to live. And football is going, and obviously like you all know. And they've got to be able to survive out here in life. And that's my number one job, is to develop young men. And I think we've done an outstanding job.

• 6:17Ryan Clark?

  Absolutely, you have. DeSean, you mentioned something earlier I want to get back to though. You said the coaches that really resonated with you were coaches that cared about the players in this new world of football, which is transactional. How difficult is it to develop a relationship with these young men, knowing that, you know, they're looking for NIL and the transfer portal is a thing? And you may only have them for a year if you develop them into a great player?

• 6:44Speaker 04

  Yeah, I mean, it's definitely tough. The new dynamics of college football, you don't have time to invest with the kid on the long term, right? Like you may have a kid for a season and you look up and he gonna hit the portal, especially the kids that are the better kids. So for me, I look at it as like you gotta get personal with them, but you gotta understand too, you may not have them long term. So you know, like Trey said, whatever you pour into that young man, regardless on the field, off the field, it's intangible. Like to be successful in life, you have to work a certain way. Like you just can't have the success without working towards it. So I think you build that, but you gotta peel back the layers. Because for me, like, it was coaches that told me to run a route a certain way, but I don't really respect you, so I may not run it the way you want me to run it, you know? But if I respect you, I'm gonna go to extra efforts, you know? So I think that's building that relationship where they can understand, like, you know,

• 7:29Speaker 04

  I want you to run through this brick wall, but why you want me to run through this brick wall? Because I'm gonna run through it with you, you know what I'm saying? And that's how you accomplish it.

• 7:35Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I think the why is important, but you know, there's the saying that they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And I think to Channing's point about the cooking classes, it's not so much that we're cooking. We also know we can't do football 24/7. The physicality of the sport won't allow, but that does give me another opportunity to pour into you as a man. Gives me another opportunity to say, you know what? When I leave here, I will take a skill I can take from a moment where I had a conversation with my coach that wasn't just about X's and O's. And I do believe that's all important as well.

• 8:10Fred Taylor?

  If we had to watch one game this year, what's one characteristic would you like for us to, that you would like to just jump out at if we watch one game?

• 8:21Speaker 07

  Oh, I mean, we can go South Carolina State. You know, they won it, they were the champs this year, but that game came down to the wire. And that was a competitive, a very physical football game. And at the end of the game, you know, it was tough. But you know, me and Coach Barry, we came across, we shook hands and that's my dog. We used to work together at Southern. He was the OC and I was the defensive coordinator. But we play a great brand of football in the MEAC. We're very physical. And you know, commissioner said it, you can look at the stats from MEAC SWAC Challenge and Celebration Bowl. You know, respect to the SWAC, shout out, but.

• 8:55Ryan Clark?

  We do this. He was trying to be nice, right?

• 8:59Ryan Clark?

  He went from check the numbers, my bad, y'all still cool, but y'all know what it is.

• 9:04Fred Taylor?

  He fired up, ready to go right now.

• 9:05Ryan Clark?

  I'm just saying.

• 9:07Channing Crowder?

  But that confidence, Coach, we here now and they say these young boys are changing. We, you know, I don't say old, we're mature, we all play ball. Are they, are they changing? Is it still that, that passion? Is it still that intensity that it was back in the day?

• 9:22Speaker 05

  It, it is, it is. I think sometimes as coaches, we change because we see the landscape of everything. And HBCU ball, you're not going to always get the best player. All right, so it got, it got some great coaches in HBCU because you got to be developers. Not only that you got to be the coach, you got to be the dad, you got to be the counselor, you got to be the advisor. All right, and that's what makes HBCU football so special. And that's why you see guys graduate and come back with their families 15 years later because of what that coach meant to them. All right, when I went to Howard University, I'm same situation as Trey. I graduated from Howard University in 1998. All right, me and Freddie T, I was in training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars. And boy, we played the game all day, you know?

• 10:04Speaker 05

  But during that meantime, I would call my coach, Steve Wilson, and he would ask me about my daily activities and what I was doing to get better. All right, like that's why it makes HBCU ball so special because that coach is just more than a coach than just a football coach.

• 10:19Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, you were the MEAC Player of the Year. Like, let's not gloss over what you accomplished when you were at Howard. You just weren't on the team. When you're talking to your players, how much do you express? Because when we talked to Ms. Sonia, like she, she expressed the culture, right? The, the community, the, the love, the, the spirit of the school. How much do you impress on them the blessing it is and the opportunity to play for Howard University and the way you have to show that through your effort?

• 10:48Speaker 05

  It's just a real feeling. All right, being a kid from Louisiana that had an opportunity to come as a 17-year-old from a recommendation from Doug Williams. All right, it was just ironic that I played quarterback, but I had other people that I looked at. You know, Doug Williams grew up with my mom and my dad. Fred Dean, who was my offensive line coach at Howard University, they played together with the Washington Redskins. So I had an opportunity to go to Howard University and Steve Wilson, another guy who graduated from Howard University, he sold me on, man, you could be the best player to ever come out of Howard University. Not only you could be the best player, but you could go out in this world and you could do anything that you want to do. That's our job as coaches to make sure that we give these guys hope. We give them an opportunity that if you don't make it in, in the NFL, that now you have

• 11:31Speaker 05

  an opportunity to go in any atmosphere and not be fearful of anything.

• 11:34Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. DeSean, what's the biggest difference for you now in being a coach from a leadership position as opposed to when you played the game in the NFL?

• 11:46Speaker 04

  First off, I would have never sat here and predicted I would have been a head coach in collegiate football first and foremost. Like, it'd be surreal. Like, I'll sit back, because you know, I'm just three years removed from playing, you know? My last season was here in Baltimore, my locker was right there. So for me, I mean, I just, I just see a big responsibility because I feel like I got so much information to give back to these young men, you know? Like, I did a lot of great things and I did a lot, a lot of wrong things as well, too. So if they could pick up from all the negative things and with the success I had, just imagine if I would have done the things that I did wrong, right? So for me, I think being that closely removed, a lot of my players, they understand, like, okay, Coach has asked me to do this for a certain reason. Like, at the end of the day, we all know the NFL is only a select few that's going to really make it there.

• 12:29Speaker 04

  But like, you know, if we can, we, we got to make sure they graduate, walking across the stage and then putting the intangibles into their lives and their skills and, you know, working hard. Because for me, I feel like there was a lot of naysayers that didn't believe in me. I was always too small, I couldn't do this. But at the end of the day, like, my worth ethic was superior to none. A lot of people didn't see my worth. But at the end of the day, like, I was able to play 15 years for a reason. So it was just really giving them those intangibles. But I like to relate to the players, man, because at the end of the day, it's about the players, not about me. My career and what I did, it speaks for itself. But now I'm, I'm pouring into these young men and that's the future.

• 13:00Ryan Clark?

  It also showed, though, with the ability to transition and have immediate success as a head coach as well. I know there were a lot of people from the outside looking in who would say, okay, what credentials does DeSean Jackson have to be a head coach? And you cut the film on, watch your team's effort, watch your team's organization, the way they communicate, you can understand why you deserve the job.

• 13:22Channing Crowder?

  But DJ, also, how, how different is it to being one of the baddest things on the field to now sitting there begging a 16-year-old?

• 13:33Speaker 04

  I mean, just like Ted said, I mean, I think we wearing a million different hats, you know? Being, being at a HBCU, obviously, when I got into this position, I didn't know all the things that was going to be put on my plate. So I'm talking to, you know, compliance officers, admissions, like, I'm trying to make sure players going to school, going to school, getting good grades. So like you said, I had a player come in last year and was like, Coach, I'm going to be honest, man, I'm going to the highest bidder. I said, huh? I wish I would have went in the P Care office or somebody's office and be like, Coach, I want all this money. I'm like, I looked at, I said, man, I ain't going to lie, I ain't going to be the highest bidder, you know what I'm saying? It was just the realest, like, some of these young men, they just led by money and it's like, at the end of the day, the money's going to come. Like, you know, we all know, we didn't, we all made good money, but if you stay your

• 14:15Speaker 04

  principles and your tangibles down to the nitty gritty, like, the money going to come. And some of these dudes are just chasing money and just thinking, okay, go get a hundred thousand, you look up, that's going to be gone in a snap of a finger. You got paid tax, they don't know it's a lot of responsibility and they just thinking, oh, I'm about to go get a hundred thousand, I'm set for life. Like, no, the real play is getting to the NFL, it's not collegically, you know? And I just think the era of college football, like, they got, they got to figure this out, man, because it's, it's bad.

• 14:37Ryan Clark?

  Coach, how do you deal with that? You know, because there, there has to be, I mean, for, for both of you, Coach Oliver and Coach White, like, there, there's just this level of pride, I would expect, in coaching for the school you played for. And not only did you play for that school, like you said, after all that you've done over two decades, they gave you an opportunity to be a head coach.

• 14:56Speaker 04

  Right.

• 14:56Ryan Clark?

  But then having to sell your school day after day, year after year, to young men you're developing, how have you dealt with the change of the landscape in college football?

• 15:09Speaker 07

  Well, to me, it's about people. People make you powerful. You know, that's one thing I talk to these parents about. It's about, I got people in my building that's going to pour into your young man. You know, brick and mortar is not going to develop your son. I don't care how big that other school stadium is, how many different uniform combinations they have, that's not going to develop your child. And we're going to love your son. My guys come in the office all the time. And I take away the transitional aspect of it all, and I still love my guys. You know, I'm hard on them, all that stuff, but I got an open door policy, they in and out of my office all the time. And I see a lot of guys, they call back to transfer. Coach, the head coach don't even talk to me. I don't even go by head coach office, that, you know, it's nothing like that. It's all transactional, it's all about the money, it's all about the business. But as a black man at HBCU, it's my responsibility to make sure these kids make it.

• 15:51Ryan Clark?

  Love that. How about for you, Coach? How do you, how have you dealt with that? And listen, I've been around a lot of people that went to Howard. Now, y'all don't think nowhere in the world better than Howard.

• 16:02Speaker 04

  Absolutely.

• 16:06Ryan Clark?

  Hey, according to y'all, it's one HBCU. But, you know, how do you deal with the players, making sure they understand that this is a great place to develop despite some of the other trappings that could be outside of these walls?

• 16:20Speaker 05

  Well, we sell them on the experience. All right, Howard University is in the middle of Washington DC. We're the number one HBCU in the country. All right, we're the only HBCU that's sponsored by Jordan. All right, and we have an opportunity to not only develop you as a football player, but have an opportunity to develop you as a young man. All right, like Coach Trey said, I leave my door open because I want our players to have a relationship with me and be able to come in and talk to me about anything. All right, when you're talking about HBCUs, no, we're not going to have the best facilities and anything like that, but what you can sell them on is the experience. What you can sell them on is the long-term game, the game of life, being able to succeed for yourself and being able to provide for your family. And that's what we sell to these guys.

• 17:02Speaker 05

  And if you're great, if you're good enough to go to the National Football League, all these coaches in the, in the MEAC, these are great coaches. Because we have to do more with less than anybody else that coaches at the power for.

• 17:14Channing Crowder?

  But you just talking about going to the league and DJ, you trying to hit on it, like, that top dude starts, you start seeing the progression, he's a good chase, he about to chase money somewhere. Are y'all recruiting every single day of the year to the guys you already recruited?

• 17:27Speaker 05

  Yeah, you have to recruit, but you have to develop your entire team now. You know, usually you had a couple guys that were good and you maybe can know that, you know, that freshman made red shirt, you know? Now, you, you can't do that. You got to develop your entire team because even that starter, he may leave, but you may have somebody, all right, that go somewhere else that may get paid some money and, and you don't know his family situation that you can't pay him the money, but somebody else can pay him the money. So you got to develop your whole team and, and you got to be expecting that your team is going to change from year to year. All right, and that's why the experience, that's why the relationship base, all of that has to take an effect, all right, with the coach. Because if a kid, you know, maybe can, you know, say, hey, I had a great experience

• 18:09Speaker 05

  at Howard University, all right, this other school can pay me 70, but maybe they can pay me 25 or 30 and I'm good with that. All right, you have to, you be able to sell them on the experience and hopefully they stay with you because you have a great relationship with them.

• 18:22Fred Taylor?

  As former players, I'm sure I can speak for all of, all of us when I say, when we got the schedule, we looked at, I know, right?

• 18:31Ryan Clark?

  I know where you go.

• 18:32Fred Taylor?

  We looked at our rivalry game. But as coaches, especially coaches at a HBCU, I just want to ask each of you, what game stands out first? Is it homecoming?

• 18:42Speaker 05

  Well, Howard homecoming is second to none.

• 18:45Ryan Clark?

  Man, he asked that question, he went to Howard.

• 18:50Speaker 08

  Don't you start. Don't you start that.

• 18:54Speaker 05

  What other place? What other place you can go? And when I went to Howard Channel in 1998, that was my first time meeting Biggie Smalls. All right, Jay-Z performed on the yard. All right, you know, this not a did it and all of those, you know, Junior Mafia and all of those guys, they perform. And that was the experience that you had at Howard that you couldn't have at Maryland and other schools. You know, you got an opportunity to stand on the sideline with Taraji Henson, you know? You got an opportunity to stand on the sideline with Anthony Anderson. Those are experiences that you get at Howard University that you can't get anywhere else. All right, and being able to develop a relationship with those people. So our first game, you know, our first game we play against Alabama A&M is on national television, on ABC.

• 19:36Speaker 05

  So we get an opportunity not only showcase the Howard University brand, but actually be able to showcase the MEAC.

• 19:42Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 19:43Speaker 05

  All right, and that's what we're about, just making sure that we understand that this is a great conference and we get an opportunity to display that on ABC.

• 19:51Fred Taylor?

  And Deshaun, is it the Halloween game for you, your old teammate?

• 19:55Speaker 04

  I mean, last year that was the game, but I mean, you can't disrespect the game. We all done played the game. You can't look that far into the season. So I would say the first game, obviously, we take one game at a time. But you know, last year playing at the link, hopefully that game's not solidified yet. But if we go back this year, that definitely be a huge game for us. But man, I just respect the game so much. You know, Stony Brook, we played them August 27th at home under the lights. You know, I'm looking forward to that. And so beyond after the game, next game, one game at a time. That's the mentality.

• 20:23Speaker 07

  I was definitely rival. North Carolina A&M.

• 20:27Ryan Clark?

  That's your first game, Trey?

• 20:28Speaker 07

  No, it's not the first game. I don't know when it is.

• 20:30Speaker 08

  Hey, he was honest.

• 20:31Speaker 07

  But we, they know what it is, we know it is.

• 20:34Speaker 04

  For sure.

• 20:34Speaker 07

  When I was in school, we ain't going to their campus, they ain't come on our campus. You know, much respect to my homeboy Gibbs over there, I love him to death, that's my dog. But it is, it's gonna go down when we play them.

• 20:46Ryan Clark?

  Hey, I love the way he answer questions. He be like, hey, man, listen, y'all can say all y'all want to say about this first game, this coach speak. I'm talking about this one.

• 20:55Speaker 07

  Y'all got the one. I don't know what y'all messing with y'all.

• 20:57Ryan Clark?

  I'm talking about this.

• 20:59Speaker 04

  You know what I was gonna say, I thought he was gonna say us, but you know, I know he trying to get South Carolina too, because you know, we was talking, we was popping it loud, now I thought he was gonna say us, you know? We put out the camera, man, and say, hold up, what you was gonna say? He ain't wanna do it again after that.

• 21:10Fred Taylor?

  Y'all finished with the same record, right?

• 21:13Speaker 04

  I mean, we beat them though, at homecoming, at home, on this field, you know?

• 21:17Ryan Clark?

  Whoa. This conversation.

• 21:18Speaker 07

  Congratulations, guys, they did beat us. They beat us for homecoming, but we gonna be back in Dover, we want to return that league. We be back down there.

• 21:27Speaker 07

  I'm gonna get that league back.

• 21:30Ryan Clark?

  D-Jack, can, for people who are aspiring to be coaches, my question would be this, what's something you know going into this year that you didn't last year?

• 21:41Speaker 04

  I mean, it's the real deal. I mean, you can't, you can't hop in this thing and not think it's gonna be work. You know, and that was the reason why I kinda, I was coaching high school before I got to this role and, you know, I was just worried about like, when I played, obviously, college in the NFL, you know, our coaches spent a lot of time at the facilities. And I was like, man, I played 15 years, the last thing I want to do is be at a facility longer than I was when I was a player. So, I mean, for me, I just, it's the grind, you know what I'm saying? It's being there, being dedicated, and you know, you gotta be present. You know, being a head coach, if you're not present, you're not there in the trenches with your players, I mean, they're not gonna have no respect for you. So I just think, you know, for players that played at a high level, and if you want to get into coaching, man, just take it serious. But anything is possible. Like you said, I came in, I didn't have experience, you know, there was nothing, nobody could tell

• 22:26Speaker 04

  me like, oh, he been coaching all these years. I didn't, but at the end of the day, I get better with time. And I feel like, you know, coming into that scenario, like I was gonna be a winner, because that's just how I am in my life.

• 22:36Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I mean, I think the maturity for me is what's shown. Like I said, you led as a player by example, but just being in that spot, seeing the success of your team, the way that your team responded to you, which I think is all important, you know, for all of you coaches. Coach, you have this fire about you though. Like I could tell, like, when it's time, you know how to get down. How do you balance that? You know, there's the, I always say, like, my first conversation with you or my first interaction with you can't be you tearing me down if you haven't built a level of trust between myself and you as a head coach. How do you balance the getting on players and grinding them and the love that you need

• 23:18Ryan Clark?

  to show them so they know that when they are at Central, it is the best place?

• 23:23Speaker 07

  Yeah, that's a great question, but it's like, it's like a bank. I can't withdraw from a kid, I can't tear him down, I can't get on him unless I deposit within him. You gotta build him up. You know, if I get on a guy, the last thing I'm gonna say to him before we leave that conversation at office, it's gonna be something positive. But it's gonna be times we gotta have some heart-to-heart conversations, and I'm gonna make them withdrawals. But at the same time, I got to deposit and leave some positive thoughts with him. But as long as you communicate, I think everything starts with communication within a relationship, and be upfront with kids, they respect that. But I think the problem is, when it's a gray area and they don't know where you all stand, that's where, lack of communication, that's where you start having issues.

• 24:06Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I think that's also what you speak to, Coach, is consistency.

• 24:09Speaker 07

  Exactly.

• 24:09Ryan Clark?

  Right, I used to always talk about my coaches, like, if you walk past me in the hall one day and you don't speak, then that's what I'm expecting from you every day. And if you are inconsistent, now I don't know which you I'm getting. Right, but if you show up every day the same way, the same person, and pour into us the same way, now I know what you're here for, what you're about. And I think what you said, it's all important for kids to understand while you're recruiting them.

• 24:35Channing Crowder?

  And in our, in our community, you know, there's a lot of single mothers. So y'all, all three talked about being a father figure. Taking those guys, knowing where they came from, and still trying to navigate that personality. How hard is that when you're, when you're a coach, but you're a dad as well?

• 24:52Speaker 07

  Well, see, the thing is, again, the relationship, if a kid is not having a male figure in his life, you can't get him and think you're gonna talk to him anyway and reprimand him and get on him. You better build a relationship and he knows that you care about him. Because it's the first male that he's dealt with in this, in this way. So if you have a relationship with them, now, you know, the kids want to be loved, they want to be corrected, they want discipline. That's what they want at the end of the day.

• 25:14Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 25:14Speaker 07

  And I think, again, if you are honest, upfront, and consistent, it's easy. And then you see the growth in developing these young men over three and four years.

• 25:23Fred Taylor?

  I asked, I asked Commissioner Steele what was the standard of the MEAC? Because we hear, we always hear about the culture of the HBCUs. But what's the standard that you guys look to put out there so that everyone that doesn't give it the credit that it deserves compared to PWIs? What's the standard that you guys look to emphasize?

• 25:45Speaker 04

  That's good, that's a good question.

• 25:46Speaker 05

  Excellence. I think when you talk about excellence, you talking about academically as well as football. When people think about HBCU football, they think about raw talent, you know? I think we have some great coaches with these six coaches that we have in this league that have been at various places that are able to bring that information back to our guys and put together, just from a fundamental standpoint, an opportunity for a guy to have an opportunity to play in the NFL. All right, now, we had a conversation yesterday just with guys that hadn't been drafted from HBCU to the NFL, but hopefully that changes. Hopefully that changes because we play a good brand of football.

• 26:28Speaker 05

  I think for the last couple of years, the national, the Black College National Championship has came out of the MEAC, you know? And when we play in the MEAC SWAC Challenge in the last couple of years, that the MEAC has always been a superior conference. And we want to just make sure that we just show excellence throughout the conference, whether it's academically, whether it's in the community, all right, whether you get an opportunity with South Carolina State, and I'm just using them because they won it last year. All right, they have some guys in the NFL that are doing some great things. All right, so when you talk about a good brand of football, you want to talk about the MEAC. And when you talk about coaches that develop, you want to be able to talk about the MEAC.

• 27:06Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. If somebody asked you, Deshaun, to describe Delaware State football in one sentence, what would that sentence be? And I think, you know, for you as well, Coach, at Central, and for you as well at Howard.

• 27:19Speaker 04

  I mean, we're very aggressive, you know, I think we're very personal as well too, it's a high standard. You know, we don't dumb down our standard for anybody. If you're a starting quarterback, the expectations, which we expect you to go on a daily basis to be a leader, you know, to control and command the huddle, and, you know, just to lead. Like, you know, in my career, I never was a rah-rah guy, led by example in the field. So I think in every player, you're gonna get a different perspective from every player. But, you know, for us, man, we're very physical, and as you hear these other coaches talking, you know, for me, it's surprising because I come to HBCU, obviously, I went to Cal, was Pac-10 at the time, you know, I think it's not enough credit on this level. You know, going non-conference and then getting into the MEAC, I feel like the MEAC conference, you know, was a lot tougher than our non-conference game was.

• 28:04Speaker 04

  And I was thinking like, all right, the hardest part is gonna be non-conference, then we get to the MEAC, I'm like, that's gonna be a breeze, like, let's just make it past this, and then it's gonna be a breeze. And we get to conference, and a lot of those teams we was playing been beating up on us for the past year. So it was like, it was some tough nitty-gritty games. But, you know, overall, man, just physicality, I think all across the board, and every MEAC team you gonna see is gonna be very physical.

• 28:23Ryan Clark?

  How about for you, Coach?

• 28:24Speaker 07

  My, my, Central's culture over scheme. We always talk about culture, culture, culture. Team GP is over 3.2, kids in the community, phones not ringing at night, getting in trouble, all this craziness. But, and then schematically, we play a good brand of football, like Ted said. We've sent 12 to 14 kids in the last five years to the league. We got Cory Bullock here, Devontez Walker here, that we're at on our roster here. So we got dudes in the league, we develop them. So, you know, the culture is there, and schematically, you know, we play a good, really good brand of ball. And, you know, I love playing PWIs. And I challenge y'all to look at our record against the PWIs, they get that work too.

• 29:03Ryan Clark?

  How about you, Coach White?

• 29:05Speaker 05

  When you talk about our football team, I think you talk about a team that's disciplined, that wants to play with the passion and play with the love of the football game. I think sometimes as athletes, we lose the love aspect, because you don't get necessarily the money that you get from the P4s and all of the other places. So you gotta be able to play for the love of the game, and you gotta have coaches that are willing to develop talent, all right, and raise you more than just a football player. I'm excited about this year.

• 29:33Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, you, your schools and your universities, but your football teams are all in great hands. So to Deshaun Jackson, Coach Trey Oliver, and Ted White, thank you so much for your time and letting us know a little bit about what the MEAC conference truly is.

• 29:53Ryan Clark?

  Coach Damon Wilson, Mike Vick, and obviously champion, Chennis Berry with the championship Gucci shoes on. You know, Coach, I want to start with you, though. When we're talking about excellence, it's exactly what your team has displayed the last two seasons, going on to win the Celebration Bowl as well. How important is it for you to continue showing that there's a high level, there's high level football being played in the MEAC?

• 30:22Speaker 09

  Absolutely. And when we talk about that in our program all the time, we talk about there's a standard. Players change, people change, but the standard, you can't change. And we've been fortunate at South Carolina State to be able to uphold the standard. If you look at the history of HBCU football, some of the greats that ever coached the game, Oliver Buddy Pugh, Willie Jeffries, pioneers in this game of football, not just in HBCU football, but all over, man. There's a standard on how we do things at South Carolina State. There's some really good football coaches all over HBCU football, and they deserve their flowers, man, because we had to get it out the mud, man. You know, in our profession, we talk about you plan your work, then you go work your plan.

• 31:05Speaker 09

  And I've been fortunate, like I say, to, you know, be around some really good people, great administrators, great people, great players, to be able to get the fruits of our labor as we try to go 1-0 every day. And that's our philosophy in our program, win the day and go 1-0.

• 31:18Channing Crowder?

  And Coach Wilson, to that point, he was saying, you know, get it out the mud, where it's not as much funding.

• 31:23Speaker 09

  That's right.

• 31:24Channing Crowder?

  You know, HBCU doesn't have those, that money and all that craziness. How much more difficult do you think it is, or do you know it is, getting HBCUs to their top level?

• 31:33Speaker 10

  Like I said, you have more challenges, but at the end of the day, a standard is a standard, a mindset is a mindset. So no matter where you are, if you put the work in, you have a chance to be successful and get the necessary, the right people in your program, then you have a chance to be successful. And I started at Division II level, you know, and we won several championships and underfunded in a number of ways. But at the end of the day, you have the right people around you, and you're developing young men and giving them opportunity to be successful in life. That's what it's all about.

• 31:58Ryan Clark?

  And we talk about getting it out the mud. Mike, you've got some uphill climbing to do. What does this season look like going forward for you?

• 32:07Speaker 11

  Going forward, man, just trying to take it one day at a time, man. Obviously, you know, the goal is never going to change. It's to win the championship. And, you know, we had a, definitely had a rough season last year. You know, we don't shy away from that. You know what I mean? We embraced that. You know what I mean? It was a lot of, lot of lessons learned, you know, in the losses. And I'm pretty sure, as our team looked back at the season last year, because I made them go back and watch it, like, yo, look, y'all beat ourselves in a lot of situations. And, you know, it's easy to lose a football game. You know what I'm saying? It's hard to win it because everything has to go right. And so, you know, just looking back at the mistakes and things that we can do better, obviously gave us a lot of things to teach on.

• 32:49Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. Coach, you know, at Morgan State, you know, you guys struggled a little bit last year. What are some of the things you focused on in this offseason to get your team from that point to not only be more competitive, but to winning some of those games y'all lost by making mistakes late?

• 33:07Speaker 10

  Great point. We lost, I think, four or five games last possession. And it went down to the little things. So we just talked a lot this offseason about situational football, putting those guys in different situations throughout, of course, to practice in the classroom, meeting rooms, as well as the small things, the discipline. You know, you talked about finishing through a line, hand behind the line. When you don't do those little things right, that's gives you the opportunity to lose those types of games. And so that was, that's something that we've been working on all offseason, and I think the guys understand it now.

• 33:36Channing Crowder?

  And just overall, player-wise, you know, Coach, I've heard that these young boys, they don't know situational football. Like, they don't understand football. I don't know if it's 7-on-7, I don't know what's great in this, but a lot of coaches telling me, like, they don't really know football. They're athletes, they fast, they can throw, they can catch, but they don't understand the game. Are you seeing that more and more?

• 33:57Speaker 09

  Well, for us, I can speak of our program. You know, we probably practice situational football before we practice anything. Everybody wants to do their installs, you know, but we have to put them in adverse moments in practice. All right? So when we get to those opportunities in the game, like, we start practice with a crossover drill. I come up with the scenario. It might be ball on the nine-yard line, it's fourth and goal from the nine. We got one play, and give them different scenarios. Give them overtime scenarios. Give them third-down scenarios. So obviously, we talk about winning situational football, whether that's third down, whether that's red zone, whether that's backed up, because the game of football really going to come down to really good situational.

• 34:33Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. Hey, Coach, has the, I know you recruit a lot. No church has recruited you to be the pastor yet?

• 34:40Speaker 10

  You got the boys, don't you? You've been working on that.

• 34:45Speaker 08

  Coach make you want to play.

• 34:46Ryan Clark?

  Hey, golly! Coach got me wanting to play. Hey, tell me the down the distance.

• 34:52Speaker 09

  Hey, man, if it's God calling for me to do it, man, I'm going to trust it, man. Man, you're playing, man.

• 35:00Ryan Clark?

  Goodness gracious. Mike, you know, you talked to us a little bit in the back. You said you had a plan of doing this, and it kind of came a little early for you in the opportunity at Norfolk State. For you, when you had your guys watch that film to try to learn from those mistakes, what were you watching in the way that you handled game situations so you could be better in year two?

• 35:23Speaker 11

  Yeah, I think for me, I mean, to go back and ask them to watch it, I'd already played every scenario in my head. Like, it was so many things I felt like I could have done better. But at the same time, you know, trying to, wanting it to be natural, you know, allowing everybody to get a feel for what was happening and what was going on, and just being really observant. Man, you know, I took so many things away from this season. I got to have the same poise that I had, you know, as a quarterback. I have to have the same leadership mentality in all facets as I had as a quarterback. And, you know, now I'm just pushing them and demanding a lot, a lot more, living vicariously through them. So it's like, you know, how would I want my teammate to respond?

• 36:08Speaker 11

  How would I want, you know what I'm saying, the defense to respond in certain situations? And now, it's just my own. And I get to, you know, look at it, critique it, make the players better, make my coaches better, obviously, and, man, just put ourselves in a position where we compete.

• 36:23Channing Crowder?

  And Mike, we, we all played against you, but I played directly across from you, and I was the spy one time.

• 36:30Ryan Clark?

  That did work out.

• 36:31Channing Crowder?

  He took off, and I took off.

• 36:32Ryan Clark?

  Why'd they make you the spy?

• 36:33Channing Crowder?

  Why'd they make me the spy? That's why I had to ask my defensive coordinator. But like, to a quarterback, like, that was so great as you were, to talk to your quarterbacks, be like, hey, man, just juke him out and take off running, like, you know, almost do what I did. But now you got to pull it back, and how do you, how do you go from your mind to put it into a young quarterback?

• 36:53Speaker 11

  Look, everybody's different from a talent perspective, but I think from a mentality perspective, you can, we can all be on one accord. You know what I'm saying? It's a championship mentality, a championship attitude that you got to have, and a resilient attitude that you got to have as a quarterback. And so I'm looking for the ones who are mentally tough. And so last year, you know, I just wanted, I wanted to give everybody an opportunity, man. You know, we have, we had, this year, it's all about pouring into those guys and making sure I get the most out of them every single day and make sure that they mentally tough to go four quarters.

• 37:30Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. Coach, you talked about a championship mentality. I've always been interested in teams or organizations that have a high level of success consistently, right? Making sure that their new players or their new coaches don't believe that they're entitled to that level of success. How do you keep your team motivated to continue to put in the work that got you guys there in the first place?

• 37:58Speaker 09

  Absolutely. And I'm glad you said that, man. You know, people talk about teams, right? In our place, we talk about having a great program, because programs win consistently year in and year out. But I truly believe you got to have great players, you got to have great coaches. But I think the most important thing is having great alignment. And when I say alignment, that means we got to be on the same page, same sentence, same line, same letter, same word. And that starts with administration. You have to have great alignment with your president. I'm grateful to have a great alignment with our president, President Conyers. Then it has to go down to our athletic director. Coach Oliver Buddy Pugh is my athletic director. And then it has to go to the head football coach. So when you got great alignment from the president to the A.D., to the head football coach, you have a chance to have success.

• 38:42Speaker 09

  And then there's expectations. When you come into our program, there's a standard on how we do things, all the way down to what socks we wear, to how we sit in the first three rows in the classroom. There's a standard, and if people coming in won't bind to the standard, they can't be a part of our program. So again, you got to be consistent. I think more than anything, we don't tell our guys to be perfect, because the reality is in life, none of us are perfect. We just want them to be consistently good, get their best effort on the field, off the field, because it's bigger than football. It's inevitable, right? This game is going to end, as you guys know, right?

• 39:13Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 39:14Speaker 09

  It's going to end one day, right? Our obligation, when we're in a leadership role, to get these young men ready for this game we call life, because they're going to spend more time as fathers, husbands, leaders in their communities than they will be as football players. So we have an obligation. I always tell our coaches, man, you know, we got to lead from the front. How we dress, how we speak, our energy, our interaction, they're watching, because we got 18 through about 23, 24-year-old, impressionable young men. So you got to be consistent, and you got to have great alignment. That's the key to success.

• 39:43Ryan Clark?

  I love that. Coach, you've had multiple championships, CIA, you were AFCA Coach of the Year, now here in the MEAC. What do you see the future as the future of the MEAC?

• 39:55Speaker 10

  The MEAC is a strong conference. I mean, you're talking about, it's only, it's six teams, but super-duper competitive each and every week. You have the smart football coaches in this conference. So I think the future is bright. I think the future, the stuff that Coach Berry and South Carolina State have done the last few years, the things he did before he came to South Carolina State, that stuff needs to be talked about. You know, you got coaches like that in this conference that have won consecutive championships. I was fortunate enough to be a part of a three-peat myself, and you got to learn how to be successful, then how to sustain success. So that's where we're at right now. We're still trying to learn how to be successful. Then once you learn how to become successful, you got to sustain it. And that's the hard part, because of what you just mentioned, Ryan, and that's, so that's, that's where we are now. But I say the conference is very competitive. It's a strong conference.

• 40:40Ryan Clark?

  Does the landscape, or the recent shift in the landscape with NIL, Rev. sharing that entire package, does that make it more competitive?

• 40:50Speaker 10

  I think, I think it does. I mean, the reality is this, we're gonna lose some of our good players. But we gotta develop that next guy. We don't have the opportunity to feel sad. We're not gonna go out and, and throw out a lot of money that these other programs are doing. So you gotta develop them. You gotta coach. You know, and you gotta, you have to speed that process up. Definitely would go into a five-year clock now, as far as those guys have a five years to play. You have, everybody's a senior. Cause you have the transfer portal, you got a five-year clock. You gotta get the most out of your guys. You bring in a cap every day. And those guys gotta be ready to perform. And then if they do that, you got a chance to be successful.

• 41:22Channing Crowder?

  Coach Berry be preaching to them.

• 41:25Channing Crowder?

  Stay here now. We'll be okay to go.

• 41:28Speaker 11

  Why would you leave? Why would I leave?

• 41:31Speaker 08

  But is that tough? Is that tough recruiting kid every, you gotta recruit them pretty much once a week, don't you?

• 41:36Speaker 09

  You do. You have to recruit them continuously. Our, our philosophy in our program, we recruit them. You gotta recruit the right fit though. Not just recruit the player. So we're gonna recruit them. We're gonna try to retain them. Alright, then we gotta develop them, like Coach Wilson just said. Then we wanna graduate them. You know, our program, we talk about chasing As, Bs, Cs, and Ds, right? But what are those? As and Bs in the classroom, non-negotiable, right? Cs are championships. And Ds are degrees. Really, if you do that and you chase that every day, not to say you're gonna always accomplish it all the time, but chase As and Bs. Dominate in the classroom, right? Alright, then dominate and terminate them, recruit them, retain them, develop them, then graduate them. Now you can get them ready for the game of life.

• 42:16Speaker 08

  Now, I need a pen.

• 42:20Ryan Clark?

  Just run the tape back.

• 42:21Speaker 10

  He said it before.

• 42:24Speaker 08

  Coach gonna be watching the pivot. I'm gonna be like, see, cause if I was coaching. I would tell him, chase As, Bs, Cs, and Ds.

• 42:33Speaker 08

  He gonna be like, I heard that somewhere before. I ain't give him no shout out, no credit, nothing.

• 42:38Speaker 10

  You know I steal people's stuff all the time.

• 42:40Speaker 08

  That junk gonna be viral. They would be like, man, Ryan Clark should be coaching.

• 42:44Speaker 09

  I love it, I love it.

• 42:46Ryan Clark?

  Mike, for, for you, you, you do get into this conference. And the thing that struck me, when DeSean was sitting in that same seat, he said, you know, I thought that non-conference was gonna be the difficult part. He said, and then we got into conference play. And he's like, every week, it was a grind.

• 43:02Speaker 11

  Yeah.

• 43:02Ryan Clark?

  For you, when you got into the MEAC and you realized the high-level coaching, the high-level play, how much did that inspire you though to say, okay, we have to get myself and Norfolk State ready to play each and every week in this conference?

• 43:16Speaker 11

  I mean, realistically speaking, I knew the conference play was gonna be the toughest. Like, I, I knew Coach Berry's background. I knew about Damon. I, I knew about Trey. And the success, the track record spoke for itself. So I was like, look, if we can win some non-conference games first. And get a good feel before, you know, unfortunately that ain't happening. It was like, cause I knew that was gonna be a grind within itself. And, man, just, like, listening to you, to Damon, listening to Coach Berry talk, man, I spent the time over the last couple of days. I understand why they's been so successful. I understand why they in the position that they in. They get it, they understand it. You know what I'm saying? Not afraid to, to, to tell me, like, yo, hey, you can do this a little better. You might can do that a little better.

• 44:00Speaker 11

  Open book, coaching is like, you know, always been that way from, from the time I came into the MEAC conferences. So, you know, hopefully I'll put, I'll be in a position one day where I can continue to pay it forward, like they've been doing, you know, for us, man. And, and keeping it competitive, keeping it fun, and keeping it, so we can all sit down and still have a conversation, man, and just have a good time and laugh about it.

• 44:22Speaker 10

  Big, he ain't tell you all the secrets though.

• 44:23Speaker 11

  Nah, hell no.

• 44:25Speaker 10

  I, I don't wanna know. I don't wanna know all the secrets.

• 44:28Speaker 11

  Nah, I mean, that, that right, oh man, if you think I'm not, if you think I'm not like soaking some things in, like, I'm not trying to be Coach Berry or Coach Damon, but yeah, I mean, I'm taking something away from it.

• 44:39Fred Taylor?

  I have a question to either of you coaches, right? Because just going back, in, in the recruiting process, I was recruited. So if you look way, way back, I think I would be considered a five-star. Chan, don't say anything. But also on the flip side.

• 44:55Speaker 10

  They had the internet when five-star. There was no internet when you came out. You wouldn't have known what you was.

• 45:01Fred Taylor?

  That is true. On the flip side of that, I was also a parent. My son was a, about a four-star. He went to University of Florida. The thing that I noticed most though is, HBCUs, they didn't even attempt to come and recruit at our school, four or five-star. I guess they already, already automatically assumed that the decision was made. What you guys approach and process or think process when it comes to those four and five-star guys that are considered PWI guys? Do you even go after them?

• 45:30Speaker 10

  We do. We do. But we also, also are realistic with the situation, especially now with this, the financial means are in place. Uh, but one thing when we go after them, what we talk about is that family atmosphere. We talk about the good quality education. You might not be on certain stations every Sunday or every Saturday playing, but you're gonna get a good quality education. You're gonna be in a family environment. You wanna play in competitive conference. You're gonna graduate. If you're good enough, you still will have opportunity to play on Sundays. So, yes, yes, we do, uh, but we really strategic in where we do it. Uh, and sometimes like, I'm fortunate now, we had a couple of guys bounce back. Guys that went off and realized, hey, man, I wanna come back home and play. I, this, this, this, uh, these letters aren't as important

• 46:11Speaker 10

  as this family atmosphere, this development may be. So, yes, I think it's important to go after those guys, but be with, with realistic expectations. Just because if things don't work out, they can remember that offer you gave them. They can remember that offer.

• 46:24Channing Crowder?

  And they used to sell us on, they used to sell us on opportunity to play. You know, uh, development, how good a team's gonna be. I'm hearing now it's all the financial. It, it's a transaction.

• 46:35Speaker 11

  That's what it is, bro.

• 46:36Channing Crowder?

  It's just you walk in the door and they talking about, how much you got? Fifty, sixty? Okay, seventy, I'm going to seventy. Is it really that way?

• 46:42Speaker 11

  They really want their money.

• 46:43Speaker 09

  Go ahead, go ahead, Mike.

• 46:44Speaker 11

  Nah, I mean, I, I feel like, you know, it comes down to a couple of different factors. You know, they gonna see what's out there for them. And, and the biggest go P5, and then, you know, what, what you got? What you got? What you got? I mean, that's just, that's just the way it works now. And, you know, I found myself, you know, we find ourselves negotiating with these young men, like, damn, we gotta, I mean, it is a business for everybody. And I, and I respect it, but that don't make us shy away from not going after some of the top guys, or, you know, uh, P4, P5 guys. You gotta, man, you gotta go after them, you know what I'm saying? Four-star, five-star, you know, shoot for the stars. If you miss, you'll be amongst them. And, and like, like Coach says, I'm, I'm gonna bounce back and you'll, you'll, you'll get them. They'll, they'll come back to you.

• 47:27Ryan Clark?

  Well, I think, once you, if they make a decision to go elsewhere, and it doesn't work out, they start to think about, who did I have a good relationship with? Who did I have a good feel for? And having conversation, where do I think I can develop? And how do you, Coach Max, you did this, Coach, how do you balance sort of thinking to yourself, okay, this guy didn't want to be here. Now, he is, thinking about, is he right for your culture though? Even though he's thought of, or, or was thought of as this talented of a player, that's now falling off, does he fit in my locker room?

• 48:04Speaker 09

  Fit is very important for us. You know, we're gonna vet every kid that comes in our program. To us, he may be an outstanding player, but if he doesn't fit our culture, we won't take him. You know what I'm saying? And, and when we talk about the relational and transactional, yes, it is very transactional. But in our program, we want it to be relational. Alright, we're gonna coach them hard, but we're gonna love them harder. And when you have those relationships, those guys will try to run through the wall for you. You know, you, you hear the old saying, man, they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. I mean, it's real. You know, we're gonna coach them hard. Like, we, we, we coach them hard. I got an outstanding coaching staff that I truly believe in, but we're gonna love them hard.

• 48:44Speaker 09

  And when they know that, they'll run through the wall for you. But in terms of the, the, the culture piece, like, for us, we have a process. Everything is about process. Alright, we're process-oriented. So, even in the recruiting process, yes, we're gonna go after that top guy. We're, we're gonna try to get that guy. We think in the Palmetto State of South Carolina, there's some really good football players. Alright, but we sell all the time, look, we're the only team in the state of South Carolina that has four NFL Hall of Famers. Okay, so if you get an opportunity to come to a place like us, where we're gonna love you, yes, we don't have all the brick in the mortar, alright, but we have relationships, alright? We have, where we're gonna develop you in football and develop you in life. So again, we may not get them the first time.

• 49:26Speaker 09

  We may not get them the second time. But in the transfer portal role, if they fit, they have the right discipline. Cause what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna make sure my coaches go out, go coach them, right? Go recruit them, right? Go get them. And then the first thing I wanna know, what's his character? What kinda young man is he? Alright, when I go to the school, I wanna talk to the lady in the cafeteria. Alright, I wanna talk to the lady in the, in the, the lady that's cleaning the building. I wanna see what kinda young man. Yeah, absolutely. Is he, is he cordial? Alright, when he comes on an OV, how's he talking to his mother? That's important to me. Because if he don't fit us, I'll get back into our staff as we reconvene and say, alright, he doesn't fit South Carolina State University. Regardless of what kinda player he is. Cause at the end of the day, it's gonna come down to discipline.

• 50:07Speaker 09

  The game of football is gonna come down to discipline. You can be the best player in the world, but if you have no discipline, discipline and talent, it's gotta be, in our program, we talk about, you have potential. Alright, you got great potential, right? But does the performance meet the potential?

• 50:22Ryan Clark?

  That's real. Yeah, and, and that has to happen on game day. That has to happen in situational football. Coach, how much does discipline outside of football, in your opinion, play into how players react on game day?

• 50:37Speaker 10

  It's everything. What, cause you spend less time on the football field than you do off the football field. So whatever you do in your, your outside of the football world, it's gonna show up on the field. So if you cheating your body, you're not doing right in the classroom, you're not sitting in those first three rows, you gonna make bad decisions on game day. It's probably gonna cost the football team. But us, like, like what Coach Berry said, we try to paint that total picture and develop that complete person. Cause that guy might wanna be a dad one day. He may wanna be a husband one day. So if you cheating now, what's gonna happen when you had that four or five-year-old daughter, and she comes to you, ask her a question, and you're not prepared to answer a question, cause you used to cheat? Now, you have to put yourself in position to see the big picture. And that's something, once again, that we always talk about, something in recruiting that we, you know, that, that we talk about, that we deal with.

• 51:20Speaker 10

  If a person does not fit that, that mold, you gotta make a decision, go elsewhere.

• 51:24Channing Crowder?

  I couldn't play for y'all.

• 51:26Speaker 10

  You was up, you was up. No. You was up.

• 51:28Channing Crowder?

  I hear my son.

• 51:33Speaker 10

  You're gone.

• 51:35Channing Crowder?

  My ass.

• 51:35Speaker 10

  You're gone.

• 51:36Speaker 11

  They asking too much.

• 51:37Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, man.

• 51:38Speaker 11

  Yeah, bro.

• 51:39Speaker 10

  You can have a couple of you on the team, but you can't have a whole team full.

• 51:43Channing Crowder?

  All-American coach. I gave you four hours. I got 20.

• 51:47Speaker 10

  You gotta take it as a break.

• 51:49Channing Crowder?

  I gave you about 20.

• 51:51Fred Taylor?

  He's hunting out of HBCU.

• 51:52Channing Crowder?

  Oh, yeah.

• 51:53Speaker 10

  Oh, yeah.

• 51:54Channing Crowder?

  But the father part of that, though, because you talking about having a daughter.

• 51:57Speaker 10

  Yeah.

• 51:58Channing Crowder?

  Talking about girl, now they coming into their, you know, first time when they on their own and all that. Y'all are doing all of that stuff for these young men a lot of times, being young black men coming to y'all's program.

• 52:08Speaker 11

  Everything, everything. We gotta, just like they gotta lock in, we gotta lock in on them. We gotta keep an eye on them, you know what I'm saying? Character is what you doing when people ain't watching. That's what I tell the boys and, you know, look, I'm always watching everything. I see everything, I hear everything, even when they think I don't, you know what I mean? So I'm pulling up on them and they like, man, Coach, how you finding? Don't worry about it. I'm on it, you know what I'm saying? The eyes and ears everywhere because like I say, discipline is everything, you know, it's gonna carry you a long way, it's gonna take you a lot further in life and why not start in a place where you got an opportunity to be around so many men who pouring into you, who care about you, not just on the field, but off the field and trying to give you a little game. And so we trying to just make them better, man. And they receive that, the connectivity be there,

• 52:53Speaker 11

  but you gotta work on it every day. It's an everyday thing because it don't take but one second for them to stray off and start doing something that's super silly.

• 53:02Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, Coach, you know, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I've been sitting with you for the last 25 minutes, you don't seem to ever get uncomfortable. But sometimes HBCU can be used as a stepping stone, right? Where I'm gonna go show people who I can be, how I can develop a program in hopes of getting another opportunity. How do you ensure your president, who you spoke about, your athletic director, who you spoke about, the boys on your teams, that while my feet are on this campus, I'm only focused on winning here?

• 53:36Speaker 09

  Absolutely. Bloom where you planted, be where your feet are. All right? And Esther 414 in the Bible talks about for such a time as this. All right? Your time there, I tell our players all the time, man, you get a chance to set a legacy for the next 20, 30 years of your life. What difference did you make? That dash that's in the middle. You probably heard me talk about the dash, right? That dash, you don't know when you enter a place, you don't know when you're gonna leave, but you got full control of that dash in the middle. And while you there, just bloom where you planted, be where your feet are, be the best you can be at where you at. And if somebody sees something in your value and your worth, opportunities may come from that. But I want guys to be where their feet are.

• 54:19Speaker 09

  Be the absolute best you can be every day at South Carolina State University. And the good Lord say the same, then you might be able to benefit from the fruits of your labor, but I want guys to be where their feet are.

• 54:30Ryan Clark?

  How do y'all, how do you guys deal with that, though? Pouring into a player and understanding that some of your best players will be poached by bigger schools with bigger pockets?

• 54:42Speaker 10

  You got to control what you can control. Somebody poured into me, somebody gave me opportunity. So I think I got a responsibility and obligation to do the same.

• 54:50Channing Crowder?

  Do you ever try to get ahead of it? When you see a kid balling and a lot of talk through it?

• 54:55Speaker 10

  You gotta stay ahead of the curve.

• 54:56Ryan Clark?

  Got to, yeah.

• 54:57Speaker 10

  You have to. You know when you recruiting a kid, what the chances are if you recruiting the right kid, but you try to stay ahead of it in a way, I'm not going out win the money game, I can out win the love game, I can out win the care game, you know, I can get that, be that person that developing a relationship with mama and daddy. So when it comes down to the money, mama and daddy say, hey, this coach care a little bit more and let it stay put, you know, so yes, you try to be ahead of it, you have to.

• 55:19Ryan Clark?

  I think it was the coach, and I could be getting the school wrong, at Nevada, and he was talking about how he recruits kids to his program. And he was saying, and he made it a joke, but he said, you know, if I do the right thing with a kid, then you'll go off and get millions of dollars at Oregon. Right? And the joke was like, I'm supposed to recruit the best possible player I can, best possible student athlete, develop him the best I can. And he even told him, and I understand that that means I may lose you, but if I'm doing my job right, that's actually what should happen. Talk a little bit about this world, though, Mike, that we now live in.

• 55:57Speaker 11

  I think that philosophy, I kind of embraced it coming in, because I understood the landscape and obviously not being in it as long as Coach Tennis or Coach Berry, like, I'm sorry, Dane, not being in there as long, man, I'm like, yo, if I do my job, if everybody do their job, then ultimately you gonna get what you supposed to get out of it. And it's not just for me, it's not gonna be, you know, therapeutic for me when it's all said, it's gonna be great for him, the player, his family, and you gonna get everything that you put out of it that you put into it.

• 56:34Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 56:35Speaker 11

  So, man, go get your bag, but it has to happen right here, you gotta take care of this first, because if you don't take care of it right here, it's never gonna come, it's never gonna happen. So take the teaching, take the coaching, put yourself in the best position possible in order for somebody to come in and allow you that opportunity and allow you that access to come into their, into their program.

• 56:55Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, I asked the other coaches, what do they look at first when they see the schedule release? We got a couple of politically correct answers.

• 57:03Speaker 11

  Yeah, we did.

• 57:04Fred Taylor?

  They're so homecoming, but he said the first game. D Jack said the first game.

• 57:09Speaker 11

  Trey Oliver.

• 57:10Fred Taylor?

  And Trey, he kept it one under.

• 57:12Speaker 10

  What'd he say?

• 57:13Fred Taylor?

  At the schedule, he said, look, it's all about the rivalry. He talked about NC State, North Carolina A&T.

• 57:19Ryan Clark?

  Yes.

• 57:20Fred Taylor?

  All right. I want to ask you guys the same thing. On schedule release, what do you look at first, Coach?

• 57:24Speaker 09

  Well, anybody knows me, I'm a 1-0 kind of guy. You know, I focus on now, what's right here in front of me, and we open up versus Savannah State University. So my focus 100% is on Savannah State University. So regardless of who else is on the schedule, we're gonna try to go 1-0 and dominate that day.

• 57:43Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 57:44Speaker 11

  Yeah, I agree. You know, it's always that first game, just like when we played, you know, whether it was college or whether it was in the league, you always prepare for that week one, because if you don't get week one right and you don't win in week one, it just feel like the whole world coming to you.

• 57:59Ryan Clark?

  You only got one chance.

• 58:00Speaker 11

  All the preparation and then it all goes for nothing, like, yo, so this year, man, Winston-Salem State is who we got first, and it's like, one of our coaches who was with us last year, he's the head coach there now, and so we know we got an uphill battle because he might know some things about us. But, yeah, I mean, get off to a good start, man, get, be 1-0 and then, you know, let everything else follow.

• 58:22Speaker 10

  Yeah, it's week one for me. Think about it, man, whatever you, you ended up in the championship game, last game last year, got a new team, you don't went to, win a workout, spring ball, this your first opportunity to get back on the field. So week one is the most, we go down to North Carolina A&T to start off our season at Ole Miss, so I'm excited about that opportunity, but week one to answer that question.

• 58:44Channing Crowder?

  Hey, Coach Vic, Coach Wilson, did he act like this before he was champion?

• 58:48Speaker 10

  Yeah. I'm gonna tell you, I know the fan was going down. That my frat brother there. So we. He changed a little bit, the voice changed a little bit. Learned a few more scriptures.

• 59:00Channing Crowder?

  He know he the rabbi. Y'all the brayhounds. He rabbi, he act like rabbi.

• 59:05Ryan Clark?

  Hey, he said, did he change? Is it different now? Just for you before we go, Mike, what's one philosophy you try to instill in your program?

• 59:17Speaker 11

  You know, man, it's just you are what you eat, man. You know, just hang with the right people, try to be the best version of yourself each and every day, you know, watch the crowds, don't try to hang in with the crowd, don't be peer pressure, all those little things that, you know, you hear when you young.

• 59:34Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 59:35Speaker 11

  And it feel like it don't mean a lot, and now you find, I find myself saying the same thing to them. We gotta, I got a two and three hour rule with the guys, man, you can go 23 hours in a day doing the right thing, you slip up in that last hour, that's all everybody gonna remember.

• 59:48Ryan Clark?

  Real talk.

• 59:49Speaker 11

  I just try to leave them with that, man, and just like, yo, be the best version of yourself, have good football character, and do what's right when people not watching.

• 59:56Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, you know, Coach, it seems that people still love you, you know, two years after winning. We got the predicted order of finish for this season, and I think as people can predict and expect, South Carolina State is at the top, North Carolina Central, Delaware State, Morgan State, Norfolk, and then Howard. Coach, there's a lot of expectations at your school, but from listening to you, from spending some time with you, I know you're ready to meet those expectations. So the Coach Mike Vic, the Coach Damon Wilson, and also the Coach Tennis Berry, thank you so much for your time. The MEAC is in very, very capable hands with you men, and I truly enjoy this opportunity.

• 1:00:42Ryan Clark?

  When you are the first woman to lead a conference, when you are the first woman to lead an NCAA Division I HBCU conference, there's a lot of pressure that's involved in that. How do you describe the way that you've approached this job, which has modernized this conference and elevated the status of it?

• 1:01:03Speaker 12

  Wow, well, thank you. Wow, I didn't see it that way, but you thank you. I always, I say I'm like a reluctant leader. So I was definitely not trying to be a commissioner. When the previous commissioner left, he's like, well, he said he was retiring. He's like, you're gonna be in the next commissioner. I said, no, I'm not. Nobody wants 11 bosses at the time. I was like, no, you enough. And so, you know, it's a humbling experience to be able to say, okay, I'm gonna, you know, I've been there for a lot of years. And to approach it to the fact that I did not want to continue the same thing. Dr. Thomas did a great job in building the conference to where it is.

• 1:01:46Speaker 12

  So I wanted to be able to take it in a different direction, take the foundation and take it to a different direction. So it's very humbling to be able to have the support of the member institutions, the presidents who hired me. You had to interview with all eight of my presidents. It's very intimidating. And then to be picked that person to lead the conference. So I'm just humbled that we are able to do what we're doing, but it's based on the leadership that we have.

• 1:02:17Channing Crowder?

  You say a reluctant leader, but you're great at it.

• 1:02:20Speaker 12

  Oh, thank you.

• 1:02:21Channing Crowder?

  What's the hardest part? Because you have to manage people, you have to fundraise, you have to get partnerships, everything that you do. What is that? When you wake up in the morning, what did you say? Okay, I gotta tackle this first.

• 1:02:35Speaker 12

  Man, you know, when you talk about leadership, you know, it's more about managing people. That's really the thing about being a leader and managing people. Not only, you know, you manage your staff, but you have your presidents, you know, my bosses that, you know, I answer to. And then, of course, the athletic administrators, the athletic directors, senior administrators, and the faculty athletic representatives who actually set the tone. And so being able, we always say you gotta lead up, down, side to side. So it's that managing people, the relationships, it's building relationships, you know, with corporate partnerships and making sure that people are comfortable, excited about giving to the conference

• 1:03:18Speaker 12

  and being able to help us elevate and being a part of it. But building relationships is a big part of that.

• 1:03:26Fred Taylor?

  She's so humble. You talk about being a reluctant leader, yet you are recognized as the 2025 Nike Exec of the Year.

• 1:03:35Speaker 12

  Yes.

• 1:03:35Fred Taylor?

  Come on, now, you gotta give it a break. But even then, let's get into the MEAC.

• 1:03:42Speaker 12

  Yes.

• 1:03:42Fred Taylor?

  Not many people know about the MEAC, right? What makes it so special as a conference?

• 1:03:48Speaker 12

  Wow, what, let me tell you something. We are the, and I believe the only conference in, do your research, and I'm pretty sure I'm straight. We have all research-based institutions. We have Howard, who leads off with R1, and then the rest with R2, and then research-centered institutions. That's huge. And so that makeup of who we are, the prestige that we have within the conference, each, I always say each HBCU conference has its own different culture. It's fan, it's very different, and we are that. I feel like we're part of like the Ivy League of HBCUs. I feel that we are.

• 1:04:31Speaker 12

  And they're eight, we're eight, and we're strong together. And I think that's the important piece of who the MEAC is. Our football, what we're here today to do is very strong. And as you check the stats on the Celebration Bowl and the MEAC Swag Challenge, that shows the strength of our conference. And I don't know who could be at the top at any time because the talent is there. So I'm really anxious to see where it's gonna land. Even though South Carolina State is at the top, everybody's coming.

• 1:05:08Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I was about to say that. Coach Barry and South Carolina State, the last two years, they've been dominant. But, you know, you keep speaking about the eight schools. It's obviously six football teams in the conference. But you've made those teams and those schools so attractive, where you have alumni coming back to coach at schools they've played for. Two former football players who played in the NFL at such a high level now, and DeSean Jackson and Michael Vick. What has been your focus on making sure that the MEAC is not only a spot that coaches want to be a part of it, but making sure that those investors and those brands want to and understand how valuable MEAC football can be?

• 1:05:50Speaker 12

  So really, it's about the culture, you know, of who we are. We're a family. And no matter who you come to, it's a family atmosphere. And so building that culture of excellence, discipline, and being able to amplify what our student athletes are doing. You know, when we have, we elevated or evolved from the MEAC digital network into the MEAC network.

• 1:06:18Ryan Clark?

  Yes.

• 1:06:18Speaker 12

  You know, and that's a big part of showcasing our student athletes and not only the academic, I mean, the athletic side, but the academic side. Athletics is the front porch to the university. So we want to show the university and their initiatives as well, and alumni that come from our institutions, the MEAC nation as a whole. That's what creates or how we are built by us. The institutions, the alumni, the students, building who we are.

• 1:06:48Channing Crowder?

  And with, what, I'm a UF guy, UF, LSU, you know, the PWIs as they call them.

• 1:06:55Ryan Clark?

  Hey, first, and be honest, too, you kind of like a Howard sort of honorary alum.

• 1:07:01Channing Crowder?

  I was getting to that. My wife is a proud Bison, HU, you know, and she do all the yelling. I've been the homecoming and everything like that. But she, it's just different. Like, can you explain? Because I can't explain to people after going to Howard, being there around it.

• 1:07:17Speaker 12

  Yeah.

• 1:07:18Channing Crowder?

  It's different. And I was like, what's so great about it? And then it's the culture and things of that nature. Can you explain in a better way? Because you're more intelligent than me.

• 1:07:25Speaker 12

  Whatever. Look, I went to Old Dominion University undergrad, and then I went to Hampton. Now, back in the day, Hampton and Norfolk State played at ODU's football stadium. So me and my friend, we going, we dressing in blue and white so we can blend in with them. That's what I remember. But really didn't really truly understand. Now, I go to, go to grad school at Hampton University. I meet my brothers, who are football coaches at Hampton, and that's indoctrinated into the culture.

• 1:08:06Speaker 12

  The fashion, the bands, it's such a diverse atmosphere. Because you know, at ODU, you know, PWI, you wake up, you go to school, whatever, you throw on some sweats or not. No, when you go to an HBCU, you better be looking your best.

• 1:08:21Channing Crowder?

  They stepping out.

• 1:08:22Speaker 12

  You know, I never understood why you going to a football game with heels on. But like.

• 1:08:28Ryan Clark?

  You know you gotta walk in the stadium now.

• 1:08:30Speaker 12

  Yeah, that's what I'm saying, you gotta walk. I never, still to this day, I can't do that. But it's a different feeling. It's really a family atmosphere, you know? And it's no matter who's there, who's playing, we all gonna tailgate together. And then, once it's all done on the field, we come together. We having a party, we having a great time. It's a different way of cultivating young men and women to prepare them for society. And you get that at an HBCU. You understand who you are. I did not really understand that to be an African-American female until I was there at Hampton, to really understand. And I was the assistant dean of women at the time.

• 1:09:13Speaker 12

  And my boss is, you know, cultivating me the stuff that I didn't get at a PWI. So it's the best place you can ever go.

• 1:09:22Ryan Clark?

  Well, I think you are just the epitome of what this is, of what the MEAC conference is, of what HBCUs are. You're elegant, you're graceful, but you're also proud. Proud of who you are, proud of the way you look, proud of the culture and community you come from. And we're proud of you as well. So continue doing what you're doing. Continue to push the MEAC forward, and we'll continue to support that as well.

• 1:09:48Speaker 12

  And I support you all.

• 1:09:49Ryan Clark?

  Thank you so much. And we're signing off from the pivot from the MEAC 2026 Football Media Day.