North Carolina Central coach Trei Oliver came back to his alma mater at the end of 2018 intent on rebuilding the Eagles into a championship program.
These days, with the 2023 season looming, Oliver and the Eagles can bask in already reaching that pinnacle. NCCU is coming off one of the best campaigns in program history, finishing 10-2 last season and claiming the HBCU national championship with a 41-34 win over Jackson State in the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta.
“That is what it is all about. That is why they brought me here, to win championships,” Oliver said during an interview Saturday evening in Durham with syndicated radio personality Donal Ware as part of a preseason kickoff show involving North Carolina’s HBCU coaches.
“It was a process. We struggled in ’19 and saw some growth … For me to be an alum and for us to be able to win a national championship, that means a lot. I’ve been on a lot of successful teams. When you are the head football coach and you’ve got your name on it, that hits a little bit different.”
As Oliver recapped the ’22 season with Ware – whose BOXTOROW syndicated show on HBCU sports airs on Sirius XM and radio stations across the country – he took pride in the way Central built its championship roster. It was heavy on evaluating and bringing in talent from the prep ranks.
“I don’t believe in the transfer portal,” Oliver said. “If you look at our roster … all these guys are high school players (who committed directly to NCCU). Our best players are high school players. I really don’t mess with the transfer portal.”
Oliver went on to add that he believes the transfer portal as currently constructed, as well as name-image-and-likeness, have “destroyed college football.”
The coach Oliver beat in the Celebration Bowl, former Jackson State boss Deion Sanders, has made national headlines all spring and summer as he tries to completely revamp his new school, Colorado University. Only a handful of Colorado players from last year’s roster remain in Boulder heading into ’23. Scores upon scores have been added from the transfer portal.
That has not been the Eagles’ way thus far under Oliver, himself a standout at the Durham school from 1994-97 and a former NCCU assistant coach from 2003-06.
Current standouts like quarterback Davius Richard and defensive back Khalil Baker – reigning MEAC players of the year – have blossomed during their time on campus in Durham. Oliver told Ware that Richard was a fourth-stringer as a freshman in 2019. Steadily, he worked his way into the starting role and now sits as a reigning conference player of the year and preseason All-America pick.
“You see him develop every week and every year just getting a lot better,” Oliver said. “I said midseason (last year), he’s the best quarterback in black college.”
Central has been stung a few times by the transfer portal this off-season. All-MEAC offensive tackle Corey Bullock hit the portal and was picked up by the University of Maryland. The 6-4, 315-pounder started all 12 games for NC Central a year ago.
Bullock’s absence will leave a big hole up front for what otherwise looks to be another high-powered, physical, offensive attack. Also lost to the portal was wide receiver Treveyon Pratt, now at Morgan State.
But Central has gained from the portal, too. The Eagles added a pair of players from FBS programs in the off-season – tight end Miles Campbell from Tennessee and defensive lineman Eli Adams from Virginia Tech.
Campbell, a four-star recruit coming out of high school, reported offers from North Carolina, Miami, Auburn, Wisconsin, Florida State, Ole Miss and others before deciding on Central.
“Thankful for the opportunity to put on for the culture!” Campbell tweeted when announcing his decision to attend Central in January.
Adams played 32 games, starting five, for Virginia Tech from 2019-21.
But Oliver said there is a difference between using transfers to fill holes that pop up, sometimes unexpectedly, each year and creating completely new teams from scratch using the portal.
“I like to go recruit high school young men who want to go to North Carolina Central, buy into the program and let’s go from there,” Oliver told Ware. “And then if you have the foundation set, then we can go out here and take one or two. Because sometimes you might lose a guy and you need to get somebody in late.”
Overall, Oliver said that too many players hit the portal thinking they are moving toward a better opportunity when often that is not the case.
“I don’t like the transfer portal,” he reiterated once again to Ware. “I think it gives young men opportunities to run away from competition rather than really competing.”
Oliver and the Eagles certainly aren’t shying away from competition with regards to the 2023 schedule.
The Eagles open at home against familiar rival Winston-Salem State on Saturday, Sept. 2. NCCU then will spend the next three weeks on the road – visiting NC A&T, traveling to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to take on UCLA from the Pac-12 and then on to Indianapolis for the Circle City Classic against Mississippi Valley State.
Non-conference games against Elon and Campbell follow before MEAC play begins.
The Eagles have been ranked as high as No. 13 in FCS preseason polls. The tough slate will certainly challenge that ranking in September.
“We have a brutal schedule,” Oliver said. “For us to be able to try and stay in the top 25 nationally and keep that ranking, you have to have a competitive schedule, so that is why we tried to reach out and play these guys non-conference – the Campbells and Elons and of course, A&T, UCLA. We have to try to play these top 25 teams so you can stay ranked.”
The UCLA game came about thanks to a connection between current Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond, a Fayetteville native, and his home state.
“He and my family go to church together, at First Baptist Church (in Fayetteville),” Oliver told Ware on Saturday. “He is very familiar with North Carolina Central University, and when he got the job there they wanted to try to get an HBCU on their schedule. It made sense for them to reach out to us and try to work it out.”
Oliver credits buy-in from the Central administration with the program’s quick ascent back to the top of the MEAC.
“You have to have good players. You have to have really good coaches, but the administration has to support the athletic program and the football program for you to have a chance,” Oliver said. “Our chancellor (Johnson O. Akinleye) and our athletic director, Dr. (Louis) Perkins, have done an outstanding job of supporting us and giving us what we need to be successful.
“We’re on track.”
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