When media personality Scottay of Offscript TV broke the news that Alabama State and North Carolina Central would play in the Orange Blossom Classic, many HBCU football fans around the country questioned the decision. On his live show with guest Perry White, Scottay of Offscript TV himself disapproved of the announcement.
“I think this is a bad matchup,” he said. “Football-wise, fan-wise: I hate it. I absolutely hate it. NCCU is in a full rebuild. You don't even have Davius Richard to sell tickets… I would've done FAMU and [North Carolina] A&T. If you could've pulled off a FAMU and North Carolina A&T in the Orange Blossom Classic, you are talking major bucks and major eyes, even with North Carolina A&T's rebuild.”
However, many people may not have known at the time of the announcement that in the summer of 2023, Florida A&M pulled out of the Orange Blossom Classic, according to a deep-dive report from BET writer Stan Becton. They rejected a contract that would have paid them $450,000, $500,000, and $525,000 in 2024, 2025, and 2026, respectively. Orange Blossom Classic Executive Director Kendra Bulluck-Major told Becton that their planning and scheduling committee had been looking for replacement schools since last March.
“Going into year four, our team has done a really good job with the overall branding of the Orange Blossom Classic,” she said. “While challenging, we're in a really good position now to brand the Orange Blossom Classic and also bring in additional HBCUs who can benefit from the platform that we're able to provide.”
Though the Orange Blossom Classic was established in 1933, the event took a 43-year break between 1978 and 2021. Despite the break, Florida A&M has always been one of the teams in the game. Since its return in 2021, the Rattlers have only played Jackson State, but the committee was already thinking about other schools to bring in.
Originally, the matchup between Florida A&M and Jackson State was supposed to be a MEAC/SWAC Challenge as Florida A&M was still a MEAC school. However, their decision to flip conferences made the Orange Blossom Classic a must-win game. Schools like to schedule their in-conference opponents after a few weeks to get themselves ready. With a Week One matchup that counted as a conference game, however, the Orange Blossom Classic shifted from a lighthearted early-season showcase to a desperate attempt to gain an advantage in the SWAC.
That unnecessary pressure is why Florida A&M pulled out of the game, even though they went on to dominate the SWAC in the 2023 season. Even though the Rattlers left, the Classic pulled too many fans to let it go again. Between 2021 and 2023, a total of 101,000 fans have flocked to Miami Gardens to watch the game.
Without Florida A&M, Bulluck-Major and her team had to think of schools that drew big crowds and traveled well across the country. The first school, Alabama State, seemed to be an obvious choice. It was one of two schools that participated in the Magic City Classic, a game that drew 69,210 fans in 2023. The Hornets are also one of four FCS schools that averaged over 19,000 fans.
Alabama's somewhat close proximity to Florida also helped in the decision. “I always jokingly say that, ‘If a parent didn't send their kids to FAMU from Florida they went either to Tuskegee or Alabama State,'” Bulluck-Major said. Her joke does hold some weight, though, as 19 players on the Hornets' 2023 roster hailed from the Sunshine State. Additionally, Alabama State's recent transfer portal acquisition of quarterback Andrew Body only helps increase the level of play in this matchup.
Although North Carolina Central is undergoing a rebuild, Bulluck-Major and her committee are betting on the Eagles' recent success. They won the Celebration Bowl in 2022, then turned around and spun off nine wins in 2023. The Eagles didn't win the MEAC, but they made the FCS Championship Playoffs. The committee hopes that North Carolina Central will remain a top HBCU football squad despite losing quarterback Davius Richard to the draft and other players in the transfer portal.
Coaching was also a major consideration for the Orange Blossom Classic. There were three straight seasons of Deion Sanders, T.C. Taylor, and Willie Simmons – all powerful coaching personalities – on the sidelines for those games. In their stead, the committee sought out Alabama State's Eddie Robinson Jr. who went viral a couple years ago when he questioned Deion Sanders' loyalty to HBCU football. Trei Oliver, the head coach for North Carolina Central, is now the only current HBCU head coach with a Celebration Bowl title.
“If you're going to have to replace a Coach Prime and a Coach Simmons, we hit the nail on the head with our replacements,” Bulluck-Major said. “They'll both bring a lot of swag, a lot of competitiveness, and a lot of great commentary for us with their interview style and with their style of play.”
Bulluck-Major and her team have clearly done their research and put a lot of thought into the next iteration of the Orange Blossom Classic, but only time will tell if their efforts are successful.
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