As North Carolina A&T kicks off one other season, the transfer from historic HBCU-centric conferences to the celebrated CAA has sparked conversations nationwide about illustration, legacy, and what it means for Black faculties to compete past HBCU borders.
“Being within the CAA provides us one other stage,” mentioned first-year Aggies coach Shawn Gibbs at CAA Media Days.
“We’ll all the time be an HBCU, however now we’re displaying what we are able to do in one of many nation’s high FCS conferences. It’s a problem, however it provides us an opportunity to do one thing by no means actually achieved earlier than at this stage.”
The Advantages: Publicity and Alternative
The transfer is strategically important for N.C. A&T. Competing within the CAA, a convention it joined in 2022 after a quick stint within the Large South and a number of a long time within the MEAC, means recurrently taking part in towards well-known packages in bigger media markets equivalent to Philadelphia and Boston.
N.C. A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin beforehand referred to as the transition “the fitting factor to do,” underscoring the alignment between A&T’s educational mission and athletic objectives.
“We dominated HBCU soccer, received 4 Celebration Bowls; now it’s time to attempt to replicate that success on the subsequent stage,” mentioned Gibbs, an assistant on the faculty below then-coach Rod Broadway.
He desires the Aggies to compete for a nationwide championship regardless of the Aggies solely successful two video games in as many seasons.
Gibbs notes, “If you happen to’re not making an attempt to be the very best, then why are you doing it?”
