Third-year Tennessee State University Head Coach Eddie George generated national headlines and intense reaction, as well as backlash, last week for comments he made following his team’s homecoming victory over Norfolk State.
George was upset at the low attendance for the game (13,000 plus), although it exceeded the usual figures for TSU home games at Nissan Stadium.
He also was critical of those fans who left after the battle of the bands, as well as those who tailgate before games, but don’t come into the stadium to watch the contest.
On one hand it’s understandable that George wants more fan support. After Saturday’s 54-0 blowout of Lincoln, the Tigers are 5-2, their best record since 2016. But Saturday’s game against a winless squad drew only 2,727 fans.
George thanked those who came, while again lamenting the fact his best squad to-date isn’t drawing big crowds.
However the issue is a more complex one than just a case of a good team being unjustly ignored.
A sizeable portion of the TSU fan base has never really been enthralled with OVC games. There’s a sector who continue to push for a move to the SWAC, or if not that at least half the games each season against other HBCUs.
TSU has been playing most of its home games in the Titans’ stadium since 1999. Whatever else anyone says about the arrangement pro or con, it cannot be argued that playing there provides the same home field advantage as an on campus field would.
Considering the documented $2.1 billion dollars that the state has failed to provide TSU for years, a portion of that money, if approved, could be used to build a new campus football field.
There are loyal TSU fans out there who are at best lukewarm about attending games at Nissan Stadium and even less enthusiastic about seeing OVC games.
Now any rational soul understands that these aren’t the old days when Big John Merritt and Joe Gilliam Sr. roamed the sidelines, and the Tigers were competing with FAMU and Grambling for national Black college titles.
TSU is in a marketplace with the NFL, the SEC, MLS, and the NHL. But right now the Tigers are doing better than all of them record-wise.
Some tough decisions must be made in the months and years ahead. HBCU football remains an important cultural component in Black communities nationwide.
But insightful and visionary leadership is necessary to help it continue to survive in a constantly changing sports environment.
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