Potter: NCCU's (2005) football season one to rememberhttp://www.nccu.edu/campus/athletics
By MIKE POTTER, The Herald-Sun
November 23, 2005 6:10 pm
http://www.herald-sun.com/sports/nccentral
The best football season in N.C. Central history is now just a memory.
But for those who experienced it, it's going to be a nice memory that will last a long time.
Rod Broadway's Eagles went 10-2, won the CIAA championship and went down fighting hard in the Division II playoffs against a team that has contended for national titles for about a generation.
When this season is finally over in early January, there might be only a couple of dozen teams anywhere -- and certainly none of them will be from North Carolina, unless Appalachian State makes a run at the Division I-AA national title -- that finish with seasons that Eagles fans would envy.
Broadway has been head coach at NCCU for just three seasons and has turned the program into one that could compete not only for CIAA championships but at the highest levels of both Division II and black college football.
Fortunately for those who love the Eagles, the long-time Division I-A assistant has signed a contract that will keep him on board for the next three seasons.
And that's particularly important, not just for winning right now, but also for leading the Eagles to the next level. That's where they are going, literally, because next season will be NCCU's last in Division II in a process that will make the school a full Division I-AA member for the 2010 football season.
Broadway at least knows what it takes to win there, and he certainly has shown he can figure out how to win at the Division II level.
The Eagles are 22-10 in Broadway's three seasons at the helm and have won 19 of their last 23 games.
Next season's team will be missing some key players. Wide receiver Torey Ross may get a shot at the NFL, while anyone giving defensive end Ronald Dowdy a shot at playing for pay wouldn't be taking an extreme risk.
But the 2006 Eagles will hardly be a rebuilding project.
The Eagles will return their top two quarterbacks. Adrian Warren certainly will be an All-American candidate when he comes back healthy next season, and Charles Futrell may be as good a backup as anyone in Division II.
Running backs Greg Pruitt Jr. and Corey Brown -- who unfortunately missed the big games at the end of the season with an injured shoulder -- are a terrific one-two punch out of the backfield.
The offensive line that assistant coach Rich McGeorge assembled didn't have a senior this season, and there aren't many kickers in college football more solid than rising junior Brandon Gilbert, who was the MVP of the CIAA championship game when the Eagles won their first conference title in 25 years.
The defense, which was the big question mark when the 2005 season began, should be solid again. Nose guard Courtney Coard, tackle Greg Peterson, linebackers Derrick and Eric Ray and cornerback Craig Amos are just a few of the leaders returning for veteran defensive coordinator Cliff Yoshida.
The Eagles didn't just have a good team this season. Under Broadway, they now have a good program as well.
Next season may well bring another championship, and if the school can keep Broadway around with much of his staff intact, the transition to higher levels in the future could be relatively painless.
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