Draylen Ellis set to move ahead of Joe Gilliam Jr. on Tennessee State football career passing yards list

With one long pass Saturday Draylen Ellis could move ahead of Tennessee State's most famous quarterback of all-time, Joe Gilliam Jr. in career yards.

Ellis has 5,163 career passing yards heading into the Tigers' game at Gardner-Webb (12:30 p.m. CT, ESPN+). Gilliam had 5,213 yards from 1969-72.

Gilliam led TSU to two Black College national championships before going on to become one of the first starting Black quarterbacks in the NFL.

Not only is Ellis poised to unseat Gilliam as TSU's ninth all-time leading passer, he also has the opportunity to lead the Tigers to big-time success. With a win Saturday TSU (7-3. 4-2) will remain in the hunt for the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference championship and an automatic berth in the FCS playoffs.

Being mentioned in the same breath with a player such as Gilliam was what Ellis dreamed of when he transferred after two outstanding seasons at Austin Peay.

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"It means the world to me," Ellis said. "This is all I hoped for. To be in this position. The success I had at Austin Peay and then be able to also have it at TSU is really just a blessing and a result of all the hard work I've put in and the coaches I've had around me to keep me accountable and motivated. To be among TSU's top quarterbacks is an honor because we have a tradition of great quarterbacks."

Joe Gilliam helped blaze the trail for Black quarterbacks in the NFL Gilliam, a former Pearl High star and the son of Joe Gilliam Sr., who spent 24 years at TSU as an assistant coach (1963-83) and head coach (1989-92), is in the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and Black College Football Hall of Fame. He was the first Black quarterback to start in an NFL season opener after outperforming Terry Bradshaw and Terry Hanratty in the 1974 preseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Gilliam led Pittsburgh to a 30-0 win over Baltimore in the opener and was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. He went on to lead the Steelers to the playoffs, but was replaced by Bradshaw as the starter going into the playoffs fueling speculation that Gilliam was removed because his was Black.

Gilliam went on to win two Super Bowl rings with the Steelers.

Draylen Ellis' career passing yards total is greater than any TSU QB While Ellis is poised to move ahead of Gilliam on TSU's all-time passing yards list and could move into the program's top five depending on whether the Tigers get in the playoffs, he actually already has more yards for a college career than any Tigers quarterback in history.

That is if you count the 3,895 passing yards Ellis had at Austin Peay.

In five total seasons Ellis has 9,058 passing yards. TSU's all-time leader is Mike German (2010-14) with 8,664 yards followed by Joe Adams (1977-80) with 8,653 and Leon Murray (1996-99) with 7,207.

"I enjoyed my time at Austin Peay and I've never said anything bad about leaving there," Ellis said. "But I've also been very happy at Tennessee State. Being at a place that has had so many great players, especially quarterbacks, was something I wanted to be a part of."

Draylen Ellis is having his best season at TSU Ellis arrived at TSU in Eddie George's second year as the Tigers' coach and appeared to be the missing link for an offense that finished fourth in the conference in 2021 and lost quarterback Geremy Hickbottom to graduation.

Ellis earned the starting assignment in his first game in the 2022 season opener at Eastern Washington where he threw for 257 passing yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 82 yards and another score. He went on to start every game but one that season and threw for 1,807 yards.

In 2023, however, Ellis took a step back when he shared the starting position with Deveon Bryant, who started in the season opener against Notre Dame. With less playing time Ellis' total passing yards dipped to 1,075.

Ellis' senior season has been his best at TSU despite being hampered by a knee injury. He has led the Tigers to more victories than they've had in a single season since 2016 by completing 169 of 281 passes for 1,925 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions.

"It's been a testament to the work Draylen put in the offseason, what he does during the course of the week and getting with (first year offensive coordinator) Travis (Partridge), who has built the offense around Draylen's strengths and what he does well," George said.

Partridge added more run-pass options to the offense to provide Ellis with the opportunity to rely more on his versatility. Partridge also designed passing plays that allow Ellis to throw the ball quicker to avoid pressure from the defense. Improved offensive line play has also benefitted Ellis.

"Draylen's a really good football player and anything I changed or wanted to do, he did it because of how hungry he was," Partridge said. "He's had a journey of a football career and he's really embraced the different changes I've made, the different nuances of playing quarterback that maybe he wasn't doing before or was hesitant to do."

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X