Daryl Neely, a Jackson State graduate and booster. Few fans had left by the end of the game. An hour before the start of the game, nearly every seat in the stadium, which holds over 60,000, was filled in what the school said was the largest home crowd of the season. We’re going to allow them to shine.”įour hours before Jackson State kicked off against Alcorn State in November, Tigers fans formed a line that wrapped around Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.įor a long time, the main attraction of a Jackson State football game was either the tailgate or the marching band, known as the “Sonic Boom of the South.” People would come for the band’s halftime show, then trickle out during the third quarter. “We’re going to put a light on these kids. “We’re going to give these kids exposure,” Sanders, whom the university declined to make available for an interview, said at his introductory news conference in September. That’s something that Sanders, who goes by the nickname “Prime Time,” promised after arriving in Jackson, not only for his school, but for H.B.C.U.s nationwide. And Jackson State, as well as other historically Black colleges and universities, have received more national television coverage.Įight of Jackson State’s 11 regular-season games this fall were broadcast across ESPN’s networks and streaming service. The Hall of Fame pass rusher and television personality Michael Strahan, who played college football at Texas Southern, an H.B.C.U., had custom suits made for the football team ahead of the Tigers’ season opener. Local commerce has spiked as the school has gained widespread attention.

Yet almost more than the difference in wins and losses, the effect of Sanders’s arrival at Jackson State has been felt around the university and statewide. After coaching the team through a condensed spring schedule following the conference’s cancellation of its fall 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic, Sanders guided the Tigers (10-1, 8-0 in the conference) to their first winning record and first conference championship game appearance since 2013.

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