Morehouse soccer desperately wants a shot within the arm. Hue Jackson is a dose of unhealthy medication.
In line with reports, Morehouse Faculty — the all-male HBCU in Atlanta — is in negotiations with Jackson to be their subsequent head soccer coach. At this level, it feels prefer it’s inevitable. In full transparency, I’m a Morehouse (Man) alum and love my faculty. However let’s be clear. This column isn’t being written by emotion. It’s a breakdown of how and why Jackson is unfit for this place in each sense of the phrase, primarily based on reality and logic.
Let’s begin with the person.
The concept a program like Morehouse, one which’s coming off back-to-back 1-9 seasons and can be on its third head coach in three years when the season begins, has a chance to be led by a former NFL head coach appears nice on paper. However, that’s why seems to be will be deceiving.
Throughout his time within the NFL, Jackson was 11-44 as a head coach between stops with the Raiders and Browns. In his lone season in Oakland, he was 8-8 earlier than he was fired. On the time, it felt unjust. However, when Jackson bought to teach his personal crew once more in Cleveland he bought uncovered. He was 1-15 in his first season and adopted that up by going winless in 2017 (0-16). He was fired throughout his third season after posting a 2-5-1 document in his final 12 months as an NFL head coach.
The subsequent time we noticed Jackson main a crew was when he took over at Grambling in 2022. In his two seasons, he was 8-14, placing his mixed profession successful proportion as a head coach at 24.6 % (19-58). However as unhealthy as his document is, who Jackson confirmed himself to be at Grambling was even worse.
“I’m not a fan at all. I’m very, very disappointed in Grambling, I really am,” NFL legend and Grambling alum Doug Williams informed The Washington Put up when Jackson employed Artwork Briles to his employees. “I talked to the AD a couple times. They knew where I stood, but they did it and if that’s what they want to do, that’s fine. I’m out.”
“Oh, no. I can’t do that. No, no, no. If I support them, I condone it,” Williams added, according to the report.
Briles has been all however banished from teaching in school and the NFL as a result of him being an “alleged” serial rape enabler. Briles was fired as the head coach at Baylor after a intercourse scandal found that the varsity’s former president and leaders, all the way in which right down to Briles, have been trying the opposite manner and ignoring rape allegations. It has been claimed that over 50 women had been sexually assaulted and raped by more than 30 players throughout a four-year span. The hiring of Briles set off an uproar, however as an alternative of fixing the difficulty, Jackson doubled down.
“This recent hire of Coach Briles is a testament to the importance of these key factors: Forgiveness: We believe that all are deserving of forgiveness and without it, healing can’t begin,” read the words written on the web site for Jackson’s Basis. “Redemption: Redemption follows forgiveness. Going from surviving an experience into thriving through new experiences require a restoration of faith and an opportunity for improvement. Enlightenment: It is our own experiences that give us the wisdom to teach others how to live in a world of respect and honor.”
The drama got here to an finish when Briles determined to step away from Grambling, as Jackson didn’t have an issue with bringing him to an HBCU campus. It was proof that Jackson didn’t care about HBCU tradition or the scholars and alumni of those establishments. He solely cared about successful soccer video games.
Now, let’s take a look at why Morehouse isn’t the place for Jackson.
Final season, Morehouse solely had two residence video games — which is insane. A take a look at the record books will present that going 7-3 in 2018 was probably the most profitable season lately, because the Maroon Tigers went 4-6 in 2019 and 2020 — the varsity shut down the athletic department in 2020 due to the pandemic. This system hasn’t gained the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Convention (SIAC) since 1991. Jackson was a working backs coach in NFL Europe that 12 months. I used to be seven.
To say Morehouse is a special place is an understatement, because it’s the one establishment of upper studying of its form on the planet. It’s a Black school for Black males. However on prime of all of the spectacular alumni that the faculty has produced since 1867, what many don’t know is that athletics are taken even much less significantly there than at different HBCUs. Athletics have by no means and can by no means be the precedence at HBCUs, as sports activities, and significantly soccer, aren’t why college students go there. The star quarterback isn’t going to be the large man on campus, regardless of what NFL aspirations they might have. And if athletics aren’t the main target at different HBCUs, then they’re an afterthought at Morehouse.
That’s not a dig at my alma mater or any of the good athletes the varsity has produced. However you go to Morehouse to play faculty, not sports activities. As an example, at our final homecoming, greater than 35,000 individuals have been in attendance for the tailgate alone, whereas there weren’t 3,000 individuals within the stands for the sport. If you wish to go to “the league” in life, come to Morehouse — if you will get in. In case your sole goal is attending to “the league” in athletics, I’d advise enrolling someplace else. Because the alumni website reads: “The mission of Morehouse College is to develop men with disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service. A private historically Black liberal arts college for men, Morehouse realizes this mission by emphasizing the intellectual and character development of its students. In addition, the College assumes special responsibility for teaching the history and culture of Black people.”
However even for the scholars who’ve grow to be, or those who need, to work in athletics/be an expert athlete, Morehouse and HBCUs ought to by no means be seen as a final choice, as that’s the way in which Jackson views us. Don’t come working to us after we have been by no means your precedence. This isn’t “Last Chance U.”
“Despite their talent and expertise – minority coaches continue to be overlooked and under-represented in the NFL and Power 5 schools,” Jackson once posted on social media. “I am calling on coaches to pivot and consider coaching at HBCUs. Not only will this give them an opportunity to hone their craft, but it can help bring more attention and resources back to these great institutions.”
If Jackson have been in negotiations with some predominately white establishment (PWI), I might discover it comical as a result of it might imply that some misguided athletic director with a foul soccer crew was attempting to rent a reputation who would garner consideration, not enhance wins. However Morehouse, and HBCUs, are a different world. The betterment of the whole scholar physique is the main target, not simply the scholars who select to play sports activities.
It has been rumored that Morehouse can be becoming a member of the Mid-Japanese Athletic Convention (MEAC) quickly, lending itself to why somebody like Jackson is in play, because the convention is a step up, particularly in soccer. However in a number of weeks, Morehouse Faculty can be 157 years outdated. And in that point it has constructed its legacy on producing Black males who’ve modified America and the world, repeatedly. The person who’s greater than doubtless going to grow to be the brand new head soccer coach doesn’t match that invoice. From his efficiency on the sphere to the horrible selections he’s made as a frontrunner, Hue Jackson isn’t simply unworthy of Morehouse — Morehouse would cheapen itself by hiring him.
