When Grambling State football head coach Hue Jackson speaks, ears will perk up due to his previous shocking claims about the Cleveland Browns. He recently provided another notable quote, but one that will only spark feelings of pride and optimism among Tigers fans and the HBCU community.

“Year 1, it was kind of a feeling out period for myself, the staff, knowing exactly what we needed,” the second-year Grambling State coach said, per HBCU Premier Sports & More. “It was very clear what we needed to head, and so we improved tremendously across the board. We need to get bigger. We need to get stronger. We need to get faster. And I think we accomplished that.”

The team went 2-6 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and 3-8 overall last season. Grambling State was a dominant power for years before recently plunging near the bottom of the West Division. Jackson, who brings with him a wealth of NFL coaching experience, is tasked with restoring this prestigious HBCU football tradition to its past glory.

Though, tough times might still be ahead. The Tigers have not had a winning campaign since 2019. Transitioning to college football was always going to be a bit of an adjustment for Hue Jackson, but he is intent on thriving with this program.

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“I think the team, it's going to be something that they can be proud about,” he said. “But when you think of GramFam, you think of the history, tradition of Grambling winning championships. And I'm here for that reason….We need to go recapture the conference the way Grambling used to, but we also know it was a lot of work in order to get there. And I think we started on that, we just got to go finish it.”

Fans should be ecstatic to hear that mission statement from Jackson and the steady progress his team is making towards bringing it to life. He knows what it feels like to endure a long and arduous rebuild, but the pieces are in place at Grambling, Louisiana for this undertaking to go much differently.