Retired NFL pro hopes to elevate Morehouse's football program

There are 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 19 states. More than 50 of them have football programs.

Morehouse College in Atlanta has long been considered one of the country's top academic HBCUs, but its football program has struggled in recent years to make the grade.

Former NFL wide receiver Terance Mathis has taken over a program and hoping to flip the script.

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"I think right now and at this time, at this place is right for me," Mathis said. "I grew up 30 miles away from here and played my football, most of my football career, three blocks from here."

Mathis played eight seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and helped them reach their first Super Bowl.

"I was always the underdog ... I wore a chip on my shoulder for 13 years in the NFL and wanted to prove people wrong," he said.

Senior linebacker Caleb Grant loves what he's experienced so far under Mathis.

"He brings like a breath of fresh air, and I truly mean that. He's always positive, always uplifting our spirits, always giving us inspiration and wisdom because he played on the highest level," he said.

"All they need is someone to believe in them. And if someone believes in them, they'll run through fire for you," Mathis said. "And that's what I'm trying to create here."

Just being on the Morehouse campus each day has an impact on Mathis.

"Well, you know, growing up, Black history to us in our families was huge. And then when you walk right through the front gate and right by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s statue every day, it's just been remarkable," said Mathis.

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Morehouse senior wide receiver Ajani Williams knows he's playing football at someplace very special, "When you tell somebody you go to Morehouse, they look at you with a certain look at you a certain way — in a good way because you have so many people that have done so many extraordinary things around you. To be able to have that under your name is great."

The legacies at Morehouse are many. So are the athletic challenges in a world of NIL money and transfer portals. But Division II Morehouse does have Mathis, who is again thinking big.

"Eventually, once we gather enough resources and gather enough support from the community and from the college, we may jump up a level. And then then everything changes plus everything changes for us," said Mathis.

Mathis and Morehouse could be eyeing a move to the Division I FCS level and perhaps the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, where it would join the likes of Howard University.

But for the time being, Mathis wants to improve the current situation, which means winning in Division II.