When Deion Sanders departed Jackson State University in December 2022 to become the head coach for University of Colorado, he left an indelible legacy after reviving the HBCUs program. Prior to Sanders’ arrival in Jackson, Mississippi in September 2020 to head the football operations, JSU had not won a Black college national championship since 1996 and had last claimed a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship in 2007.
After going 4-3 in the COVID-19 shortened season of 2020-21, Sanders led the Tigers to records of 11-2 and 12-1 in the two campaigns that followed, winning the SWAC title in both and playing in the Cricket Celebration Bowl (the HBCU national championship game) — falling to the South Carolina State Bulldogs in 2021 and the North Carolina Central Eagles in 2022.
But Sanders’ successor and former offensive coordinator, Thomas “T.C.” Taylor, who Sanders strongly lobbied Jackson State’s key decisionmakers to replace him, achieved what the Pro Football Hall of Famer and College Football Hall of Famer did not: win the Celebration Bowl.
Taylor, who played quarterback and wide receiver for JSU from 1998 to 2001 and took over the Tigers in 2023, guided the team to a 28–7 win over South Carolina State in 2024. He now heads into Saturday’s matchup against Prairie View A&M at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium — JSU’s home field — seeking back-to-back SWAC championships and a return to the Celebration Bowl. The game kicks off at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Whichever team comes out on top will face MEAC champion South Carolina State on December 13 at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium in the 10th edition of the Celebration Bowl.
Jackson State, 9-2 overall, won the SWAC East title with a 7-1 mark. Alabama State (10-2) was also 7-1 in conference play but JSU’s head-to-head 38-34 home victory on October 11 over the Hornets gave them the tiebreaker. Prairie View (9-3), with head coach Tremaine Jackson at the helm, took the West title at 7-1. Coach Jackson, in his first season with the Panthers, won Gulf South Conference titles in 2023 and in 2024 in three years at NCAA Division II Valdosta State.
“A lot of good players that’ll be on that other sideline. A lot of good coaches, so we gotta bring our A game,” said Taylor on Monday of JSU’s upcoming battle with Prairie View. “Any time you talk about the last two teams standing in the conference you know it’s the making of a good football game this weekend.”
On Tuesday, Jackson was named the SWAC Coach of the Year and Panthers running back Chase Bingmon the conference’s Freshman of the Year. Jackson State defensive lineman Quincy Ivory earned Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors after transferring from the University of Florida. Alabama State quarterback Andrew Body was named Offensive Player of the Year.