As the end of the season has neared, a tremendous debate has broken out in the HBCU community about if Florida A&M head coach Willie Simmons or Jackson State head coach T.C. Taylor is the coach of the year in the SWAC. There have been some coaches, such as Alabama State's Eddie Robinson Jr., that have done an amazing job at the helm of their programs. But, the discussion is only between Simmons and Taylor.

Both have the resumes and accomplishments needed to win the honor. But, when debating the topic, several factors go into who should end the season with the award. Let's lay out the case for both T.C. Taylor and Willie Simmons to be named Coach of the Year and you decide who should receive the honor.

T.C. Taylor

When Deion Sanders was rumored to be leaving for Colorado nearly a year ago, many HBCU fans and prognosticators predicted that Jackson State would drastically regress. Many players that came to play under Coach Prime hit the transfer portal. By December 21, 15 players (including 8 starters) entered the transfer portal to go and play for other teams. By May, that number ballooned to 24 including key pieces of the defense that was ranked #1 in FCS.

Taylor didn't get the luxury of inheriting a winning team or key players that the previous coach left behind. He had to rebuild the program in his image, getting players that were ready to win now and compete for a SWAC Championship and a Celebration Bowl birth. He did just that.

Jackson State finishing with a 7-3 record is a testament to Taylor and his coaching staff's ability to continue to maintain a standard of excellence befitting two-time defending champions. They also were able to identify players that they could bring into the program that put them on track to keep winning. One key addition, Irv Mulligan from Wofford College, seemed to be the best of all.

Mulligan was a star for the Tigers. Although he faced injuries that put him out over a month after the Alabama State game, he finished the year with 674 yards rushing on 122 attempts and 5 touchdowns. He made his presence felt in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge as Jackson State blew out South Carolina State 37-7.

Speaking of the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, Taylor and his team stepped up in the moments that they needed to. Sure, they lost to Florida A&M in the Orange Blossom Classic, homecoming to Alabama State, and their rivalry matchup against Alcorn but they got a resounding win against South Carolina State to start the season and continued that momentum with a rather decisive 27-14 victory over rival Southern in the Boombox Classic.

They beat the teams that they were supposed to beat and competed in nearly every game they played. When the offense stalled with Jason Brown at the helm, Taylor and his staff installed Jacobian Morgan as the new starting quarterback.

Morgan got his first significant portion of playing time against Mississippi Valley State and never looked back. In just four games he threw for 842 yards and 10 touchdowns while rushing for 150 yards and 6 touchdowns. Taylor found his quarterback of the future and now has an offseason to continue to build out their offense.

By every metric, the season for Jackson State has been a victory. Even with the looming shadow of Deion Sanders and his two-year tenure with the team, Taylor and the Tigers overachieved and set in motion a resounding building block for the future. T.C. Taylor is more than deserving of the SWAC Coach of the Year award for maintaining a winning culture around the team and creating success to build upon in the seasons to come.

Willie Simmons

To start the season, the distraction of the “Send A Blitz” video by Real Boston Richey popped up out of nowhere on a Friday night late in July. When Willie Simmons and new athletic director Tiffani Sykes decided to suspend all football activity pending an investigation, HBCU fans and prognosticators were ready to call the season for the Rattlers. Clearly, they can't be focused on competing in the conference if a rap video is causing this many problems right?

Yet, they pushed through it. Simmons and the Rattlers put their full attention on winning the Orange Blossom Classic. With the departure of Deion Sanders from the conference, you can say that Simmons arguably benefited more from it than T.C. Taylor. In the 2021 & 2022 seasons, Florida A&M was always second in the conference behind Jackson State. They lost both Orange Blossom Classic matchups and then proceeded to beat the rest of their conference foes.

A third loss in the Orange Blossom Classic would've proven to be catastrophic to a team with a conference championship and Celebration Bowl aspirations. Simmons prepared his team perfectly, dominating their latest matchup with Jackson State from the first kick-off. They went on to win 28-10, kicking off a magical run through the season that has had every Florida A&M fan believing the sky was the limit.

Simmons and the Ratters had all HBCU fans bought into the vision, as they pushed FBS opponent University of South Florida to the limit and arguably played them tougher than Alabama did a week later. Although they lost 38-24, Florida A&M proved that they were a formidable team that was poised to finally take their place atop the SWAC.

Not long into the season, fans started to doubt Jeremy Moussa. The starting Rattlers quarterback wasn't playing up to his stellar expectations as calls to bench him started to grow more and more from fans. Simmons responded swiftly, urging everyone to trust his vision for the offense and making his faith in Moussa known.

Clearly, Simmons's decision to stand ten toes down behind his quarterback was the right move. They went on to win every other game, with Moussa maintaining his high level of play. Simmons made himself apparent as the new standard-bearing coach in the SWAC post-Deion Sanders. With every win, FAMU continued to rise in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, eventually finishing at #5 on the year.

They made their first SWAC Championship in three seasons and are favorites to go all the way and win the 2023 Cricket Celebration Bowl. It's all because Simmons continued to believe in his team and the vision for the future. Now, the Rattlers are only set to get better as they court four and five stars to join their team. Simmons has put together a winning formula at the highest of seven hills and his massive success this season makes him very much so deserving of the SWAC Coach of the Year.