Mack Brown, UNC football to honor HBCUs during home game against FAMU
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina's football game on Saturday evening won't just mark the start of another season. It'll also be a salute to Historically Black College and Universities.
The Tar Heels kick off the 2022 campaign at Kenan Stadium against one of the most successful HBCU football programs, the Florida A&M Rattlers. The game will be part of a weekend celebration of HBCU's culture and history with Black fraternity and sorority functions on campus, an appearance by A&M's famed band, The Marching 100, and renowned figures serving as honorary coaches.
"It's just going to be a great night to celebrate HBCUs, not only in our state, but one of the best ever with Florida A&M and all they've brought to college football,'' UNC coach Mack Brown said of the HBCU Celebration Game, which was scheduled before he was hired a second time to coach the Tar Heels in November 2018.
Brown's association with two coaching greats inspired him to turn the game into a fete of HBCU history.
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While he was a player at Florida State, Brown took graduate courses at nearby Florida A&M where he was introduced to the school's football coach Jake Gaither.
"Coach Gaither would hold Bible studies and we all got to visit with him,'' Brown said. "He was just an amazing man. His record was 204-36-4. I talked to our kids about him yesterday. He's one of the best coaches ever. He's like (former Grambling State coach) Eddie Robinson, he just didn't get as much attention. He was the coach who came up with the 'Agile, Mobile and Hostile,' phrase.''
During Brown's first tenure as UNC's head coach between 1988-97, he developed a friendship with Bill Hayes. Hayes served as head coach at three of North Carolina's HBCU schools — N.C. Central, Winston-Salem State and N.C. A&T.
"I just love coach Hayes to death,'' Brown said. "He and I were great buddies when I coached here before. He is the winningest coach at three different programs.''
Hayes will serve as one of UNC's honorary captains for Saturday's game along with former UNC defensive lineman Rod Broadway. Broadway served successfully as a head coach at N.C. Central, Grambling State and N.C. A&T, winning Black college football championships at all three schools.
Many of Broadway's Tar Heel teammates, who were among the first Black athletes to play football at UNC, also will be in attendance.
College Football Hall of Fame member Rudy Hubbard will serve as the Rattlers' honorary coach. Hubbard directed the Rattlers to back-to-back black national titles in 1977-78.
One team Brown insisted be part of Saturday's celebration was A&M's Marching 100 band.
"The Marching 100 is one of the best bands ever,'' Brown said. "It may be the best. They've played at the Grammys. They've played at the Super Bowl. They are going to play in the pregame by themselves and with our band, and the same at halftime. We want to make sure to honor the Marching 100.''
A&M has enjoyed tremendous success since it began playing football in 1907. The Rattlers have won 15 Black college national championships, more than 37 conference titles and an NCAA Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) title. More than 60 A&M players have gone on to the NFL, including Pro Football Hall of Famer "Bullet'' Bob Hayes and College Football Hall of Famer Willie "The Wisp'' Galimore.
Under fifth-year head coach Willie Simmons, a former Clemson quarterback, the Rattlers have produced a 24-10 overall record, highlighted by last year's 9-3 mark that led to their first FCS playoff berth since 2001.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC football to honor HBCUs during home game against Florida A&M
