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North Carolina Central head coach Trei Oliver never shies away from sharing his opinion, and he weighed in on the explosive hires of Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson, as well as other former professional players, during the MEAC/SWAC Challenge Press Conference. Oliver definitely sees the benefits of the hires for the visibility of the conference but doesn't want non-celebrity coaches overlooked.
During the MEAC/SWAC Challenge press conference, coaches were asked to comment on several ex-NFL players who had been hired in the offseason to take over HBCU football programs. Here is what N.C. Central coach Trei Oliver had to say: pic.twitter.com/SnZO8FYtnj
— HBCU Sports (@HBCUSports) July 17, 2025
“These guys can help bring some exposure, and I think in certain universities, obviously financially, there'll be some type of impact with that. But you know, there are a lot of really good football coaches out there that I think they're kind of getting overlooked. And it's their time. But, it'll be good for those guys to come in here and, bring our ratings up and hopefully bring more money to the conference and everything like that. But, they gonna have some work to do because it's not sweet now in both conferences.”
Both Vick and Jackson's first year in the MEAC will certainly be intriguing, as several of HBCU football's best coaches lead teams in the conference. Even with massive coaching turnover in the sport, Oliver remains one of the longest tenured and successful coaches with a Celebration Bowl victory over the Deion Sanders-led Jackson State Tigers. Both coaches, specifically Jackson, understand that they have a winning expectation and want to build a contender quickly.
“We ain’t waiting,” Jackson said during a media scrum during his introductory press conference in January. “We want to be at the Celebration Bowl this year. We want to win the MEAC this year. Whatever was going on, we can’t do that anymore. We’ve got to move forward and change that, starting on day one.”
