CFB 23: Red Tails, FCS Kickoff Classics get early publicity
By TIM GAYLE
The one common theme among the two coaches gathered for the FCS Kickoff Classic and the two coaches on hand for the Boeing Red Tails Classic was the amount of exposure their college football programs could generate by playing the game in Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl.
“This game means a lot to UNA,” North Alabama coach Brent Dearmon said. “Not just for our football program and our recruiting, but the exposure it’s going to bring us. A nationwide game, where I can call kids in Florida and tell them to pay attention (to ESPN) today. For us to be in the state capital, for us to be on the national stage in the state of Alabama means a lot to us. It’s going to bring so much recognition to the school itself.”
A packed RSA Activity Center luncheon on Thursday included sponsors and supporters of the 2023 FCS Kickoff Classic between North Alabama and Mercer on Aug. 26 at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN and the third Boeing Red Tails Classic between Tuskegee and Fort Valley State on Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
Organizers of the Camellia Bowl, which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this December, came up with the idea of holding the first Football Championship Subdivision game of the season at Cramton Bowl in 2017 after the idea was launched at various campus sites in 2014-16.
“There is a rule in the NCAA manual for Football Championship Subdivision that if you have a televised game, you can move your game to Week Zero,” said Camellia Bowl executive director Johnny Williams. “So we had Jacksonville State exercise that option. ESPN has solidified that game and it has been Week Zero the last six years because of our persistence trying to make that game happen. Because this division plays great football.”
There was no game in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but next month’s meeting between UNA and Mercer will be the sixth annual event at Cramton Bowl.
Mercer was 7-4 in 2022, including a loss to Auburn, but returns 10 starters on defense and nine on offense.
“Montgomery’s a great football city,” Mercer coach Drew Cronic said, “and we’re excited about coming over here. It’s going to help our program to be able to get that Week Zero game and be able to play on ESPN when nobody else is playing. It’s going to help Mercer get its brand out there.”
Dearmon took over the Lions’ program last December after a 1-10 season in 2022. The former Vigor High star was the offensive coordinator at FAU in 2022, at Middle Tennessee State in 2021 and at Kansas in 2020 after serving as an analyst at Auburn in 2013 and 2014.
“This game is huge for me,” Dearmon said. “I have played in Cramton Bowl on two different occasions. I’ve played against Jeff Davis, I played against Robert E. Lee twice -- one time they came down to us -- and I’ve played against Sidney Lanier. As a player at Vigor High School, I played against the Montgomery schools. The one I lost to was Jeff Davis. They kicked me out of the playoffs (with a 22-21 loss) my senior year.”
A week later, the Boeing Red Tails Classic will take place at Cramton Bowl in a rematch of last year’s game, won by Fort Valley State 21-6.
“The first meeting I ever had with Mayor (Steven) Reed, his concept was we need to get a (HBCU) classic here and I want Tuskegee playing in Montgomery,” Williams said. “I went over there to see Willie Slater, the head coach at the time, and he jumped all over it and said we’d love to play in Montgomery every year.
“And he looked behind him and he had a poster of the ‘Red Tail’ movie. And he said, ‘Johnny, whatever you call it, I want to honor those men right there.’”
The significance of the game is not lost on first-year coach Aaron James, who quarterbacked the Golden Tigers in 1998-2001. James, the offensive coordinator on last year’s team that went 8-3 under Reginald Ruffin, wasn’t bashful about his team’s chances after taking over for Ruffin, who is now the athletic director.
“We will win the championship,” James said. “Winning is in my pedigree, knowing that I only lost five games in four years as a starter at Tuskegee. This is the third year for the Boeing Red Tails Classic and just knowing of the men that paved the way, knowing we were safe, knowing that they trained in Tuskegee, means a lot to our university.”
Last year, it was Shaun Gibbs who was the first-year coach, who won his first-ever game at Fort Valley State in Cramton Bowl on the way to an 8-3 record.
“We’re extremely grateful to be able to participate in such a great classic,” Gibbs said. “As an assistant coach, I was able to play in the FCS Kickoff Classic (in 2018 while at North Carolina A&T) against Jacksonville State, so I’ve witnessed and been able to participate in both (games). This is a great opportunity for our kids to go out and be a part of something that really means a lot to our culture. The Tuskegee Airmen were people that were extremely brave and courageous and represented our country and our culture to the fullest.”