NCCU with some big wins!

Trey Oliver is the coach at NC Central and coming up on Saturday at noon on ABC from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

It'll be the Celebration Bowl. First of all, congratulations on getting there, coach. Are you nervous yet? Am I nervous?

Nah, Adam. It's football, man. I don't get nervous when it comes to football.

Ah, yes. Well, look, this is a big stage, but you guys really answered the bell early in a rivalry game. With A&T in an NFL stadium. You guys answered the call, then? Yeah, we played really well that game. As a matter of fact, I challenged our guys this morning about that. I thought we came out with a lot of passion, a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of energy.

We had to come out the same way against Jackson State. We need to make them match our intensity and our tempo. We can't sit back and try to fill those guys out.

So, your offense really centers around the quarterback and a varied running game. You've got Collier, you've got Darius Richards. These guys really make you go offensively.

What do they bring and just how are they ready for this? Well, Collier, you know, he's just a blue collar running back. He can run between the tackles. He's got speed, you know, to get on the perimeter. Great hands on the backfield.

But, you know, Davis, our quarterback, we call him Pee Wee. You know, he does a great job of just managing the offense. And we have so many weapons on the offense side of the ball. You know, he doesn't force the ball and try to give it to one person. He has a good job of going through his progressions and taking what deep breaths he can do.

So, I've been really pleased with that. And that's why we've been fortunate to take care of the ball like we have. But, looking at our stats, a lot of receivers we have got a lot, you know, in the box scores. Well, that's what really jumps out to me is that nobody caught more than 35 balls all year. We played 11 games and nobody's caught more than 35. But you have a lot of guys in double figures in receptions. I guess that makes it harder to game plan. Who do we stop?

We don't know. Definitely. And, you know, the guys are not selfish at all. You know, they talk about everybody's going to eat. Everybody's going to get an opportunity. And depending on the game plan, who might be open this week. But it seems like it's a different guy that steps up every week in those box scores. But I'm really pleased to see that. And the guys do a great job of cheering each other on and supporting each other. We don't have a selfish team. Trey Oliver, the head coach at NC Central is joining us here on the Adam Gold show.

They will play in the Celebration Bowl against Jackson State Saturday in Atlanta on ABC at noon. This is your fourth year, but it's only the third season. We lost a season due to COVID a couple of years ago. And I'm just curious about the build and how you have gone from where you were when you took over to where you are right now. It would seem like a slow build, but it really wasn't. The first year was a struggle.

And after the COVID break, you guys have been very good since. Yeah. And I think the thing is you got to you went with good people and I wanted to build this thing. I didn't want to go with the transfer route. I wanted to get good high school student athletes in here because we had to change the culture. And I think you can do that when you bring some young guys in here that buy into your system. Sometimes I don't believe in bringing up a lot of transfers in and, you know, I just think that's not my philosophy. But now that the culture has changed, guys have bought in and we have a solid foundation.

So moving forward, we might look at, you know, bringing messing with a transfer to. But for me, the process and building it was about high school players. We're talking with Trey Oliver, the head coach at NC Central.

Way back in the beginning of the conference season, you went to South Carolina State and they got some, I think, some pretty big, you know, potential pro prospects down there. And and they beat you guys by two in a close game. How did you guys bounce back as it looks like you played your best football since then? Yeah, we turned the ball over a couple of times that game and didn't play well.

But, you know, the guys took it off. That loss hurt them. But, you know, but they didn't look too far ahead.

They just stay in the moment and worry about the next week. So we worked, we always talk about getting better this next week. And, you know, we won the following game and been on a roll ever since. And, you know, thank God South Carolina State, you know, left the door open and let us get back in here. I mean, you haven't lost since that game, right? I mean, you guys, you guys won out from from that point. It was just Campbell and South Carolina State that put you on the short end. Otherwise, you guys would be 11-0 right, right with Jackson State.

What is the, what is, how do you deal with Shadore Sanders? How do you deal with what Jackson State's going to bring? Well, you know, he's a good quarterback and I think a lot of his high percentage, you know, his percentage is so high because he, you know, they throw a lot of quick game and, and intermediate concepts. So we had to do a great job in the back end of matching routes with our defensive backs. And obviously we had to try to keep them in the pocket and we can't let them, you know, beat a scrambling around. So definitely a very good quarterback and, and, you know, he's got a whole lot of weapons around him and then, you know, looking deep inside the ball, they're big athletic and fast. So we're going to have to, we're going to play well and bring our A game. I'm going to ask you one question about Deion Sanders in a minute, but I do want to ask you about the moment of this particular game for your guys, because it is a nationally televised network broadcast. And it is a big deal. The program has only been there one time. I think it was, I don't know, six or so years ago.

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That's RefundsPro.com. I mean, it's huge for the school and for us to be able to put our university on a national stage like this and show the greatness of our university institution, you know, is outstanding. But, you know, we recruited our guys and I told them this is why we brought you here to playing games like this. We said that was the goal to come down here and play in Atlanta.

And, you know, now, you know, we got to go down here and show out. So we're not going down here just to enjoy the bowl and enjoy Atlanta and go through the festivities. We're going down here to try to win this football game. Well, it strikes me as it's different than just, you know, a bowl game because it is really a championship game for you guys, right? Yeah, definitely. And, you know, for you to be considered a national champion, you know, the conference championship is all good and everything else. But for us to be able to be named national champions and compete with the team like Jackson State on the national stage, man, you know, everything's lining up. All right.

Final question. And this is about, Deion, I didn't want to make this about Deion. And this game isn't about Deion Sanders. But I'm just curious from your perspective what Deion, if anything, really has meant to football in the HBCUs and what it's like for you to go up to kind of match wits with him.

Well, I'm going to say this. Black College football has been great for years. And I've been the product of Black College. I've been coaching here for 23 years. I think what Deion has done is kind of, you know, brought a little bit more media attention to it. But there have been great coaches to come in here and great players to come through here for many, many years. So I don't think Deion was a savior for Black College football or anything like that. And, you know, for me, as far as you say, matching wits with the, you know, it's a football game. And I'm coaching against Jackson State. I'm not coaching against Deion. But somebody asked me this other day, I've won several championships and several Black College national championships. So this isn't my first rodeo.

It certainly is not. And you mentioned some of the great programs. I mean, A&T has been really good for a while. And actually they moved up. I don't know if it's even called moving up, but they went to the Big South.

And I think they're even moving up higher than that in the near future. So you've had a great season. I hope you finish it off in the Celebration Bowl on Saturday in Atlanta on ABC. Trey Oliver, head coach, NC Central. Good luck to you and your Eagles.

Thank you so much. Did you notice that you could hear an eye roll about matching wits with Deion? I just find that funny. I asked the question that way purposely, though, about not just about matching wits, but also just about Deion in general. Because I think here's what's come out, not come out in terms of news, but we've figured out because the stay at Jackson State was so short that it really wasn't ever about the HBCUs for Deion. It was never about that. Now, it certainly was good for historically black colleges and universities and athletics to have Deion because of all the attention it brings.

And when you see when that attention, when that light is shined, it shows other things that are really good that are going on. But ultimately, it became really it's just about Deion. I mean, he just left for Colorado. He didn't leave for Florida State. Right.

He left for Colorado. It might work for Deion. I'm just not I'm not knocking Deion. He just showed himself to be any other coach, which is, again, also good or also fine, good or not.

I'm not not judging that. But it ultimately doesn't necessarily do anything for HBCU athletics. If Deion shows up and then bolts for the first offer that came along.

It just doesn't. But I mean, go out, win the game, Central. Just go go out, win the game. Jackson State's got good players. They won't be there next year. A lot of those players will end up following Deion to Colorado.

Yeah, because they have good they have some really good players. His son is going to be the quarterback of Colorado. They got one more game to play for Jackson State. It'll be I mean, I'm fascinated to watch it Saturday noon on ABC. It's a great it's a great platform for NC Central to show themselves and what kind of football program that they've got.

But it's funny. I watched an interview. I'll make this brief. I watched an interview that Deion did on Good Morning America with Michael Strahan, who is also a product of HBCUs. He went to Texas Southern and it was all about. You know, this is all for the HBCUs. OK, now, except except that was hard to believe then.

Yeah, but it's it's been proven to not be true now. Yeah, which again, I don't blame him for taking the Colorado gig at all at all. I don't blame him for taking the Colorado gig.

Heck, he probably multiplied his salary by 15. I wish I could do that. I really do.

I wish I could do that again. I've said this before, and this has nothing to do with with live golf. But man, if the Saudis were just interested in sports radio and God, I'd be. Yeah. And that game's actually going to be on the fan, too. Oh, really? Yes. Oh, very cool.

Saturday, Central Jackson State should be a blast. Geico asks, how would you love a chance to save some money on insurance? Of course you would. When it comes to great rates on insurance, Geico can help, like with insurance for your car, truck, motorcycle, boat and RV, even help with homeowners or renters coverage. Plus add an easy to use mobile app, available 24 hour roadside assistance and more. And Geico is an easy choice. Switch today and see all the ways you could save. It's easy. Simply go to Geico dot com or contact your local agent today.