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New Mississippi Valley State head football coach Kendrick Wade wasn't happy with the accommodations afforded to the football team at the Chicago Football Classic. Wade let his frustrations be known on the SWAC Weekly Media call, captured by HBCU Sports.
“I’ve been coaching 14 years, and it was probably the worst experience of my life. As far as the logistics, as far as how things were set up… the meals, the hotels, and the constant changes of the itinerary. There were a lot of things that just were not conducive for us to be successful.”
Wade even went as far as to directly address participation in the Chicago Classic.
“I have no intention of going back and playing in the Chicago Classic. I have nothing against it, but for me, it just didn’t work well for us.”
HBCU Sports also reached out to Chicago Football Classic co-founder Larry Huggins who said that Wade's comments were new information to him.
“I would have to have a conversation with him (Wade) to find out what issues he has. This is the first I’m hearing of it.”
He added, “If there was something done wrong, hopefully, we can correct that.”
Mississippi Valley State suffered an upset 24-21 loss to the SIAC's Central State University in the Classic. The game was broadcast on HBCU Go, although the game cannot be found on demand to view at the time of this writing. The loss added to the clear frustrations that Wade had with his classic experience.
Huggins still hopes to figure out what went wrong.
“We’ve been doing this thing (Chicago Football Classic) for 25 years, and we’ve never had any complaints from any coaches. There is a first time for everything, but if we’ve done something wrong, I think we can make some corrective actions. I would really have to have some conversations with (Wade) to find out where the ball got dropped.”