When N. C. A&T announced that it would part ways with Vincent Brown last November at the close of the 2024 Football season, it really wasn’t much of a shock to anyone connected to Aggie Football.
Brown, who previously was the defensive coordinator at William & Mary, became head coach in 2023 replacing the popular Sam Washington and was supposed to shepherd A&T through a successful transition into the CAA (Coastal Athletic Association).
However despite those high expectations, Brown floundered in his first season with a 1-10 record and followed up last year with another equally disappointing performance going 1-11 with the only win being a overtime victory over a middle of the road D-2 Winston Salem State team in the home opener.
After that the Aggies piled up ten straight losses including no CAA wins, an embarrassing shellacking to arch rival NCCU (64-28) on the road and a 59-17 homecoming debacle to fellow CAA member Hampton. The handwriting was clearly on the wall.
What was not anticipated was just how fast A&T moved to name its new head coach just three days later with hiring of Shawn Gibbs away from Fort Valley State (SIAC). Gibbs had been a long time standout member of the legendary Rod Broadway coaching tree with established strong ties to the N.C. A&T community.
When Gibbs left A&T in 2022 in his first stint as a head coach to take over a D-2 FVSU program that gone 11 seasons without a winning record and immediately made them a force with back-to- back 8-win seasons including a Florida Bowl victory compiling a 23-9 record during his 3 years there.
Once offered, not only did Gibbs quickly accept the A&T job, he reassembled most of the key staff that was responsible for A&T’s dominant run from 2014-2019 which garnered 4 HBCU National Championships, 4 Celebration Bowl wins, and 5 MEAC titles.
So what should the Aggie faithful expect going into this fall in its third year in the CAA? Well, no one should be expecting an immediate return to the dominance of the last decade but what the A&T fan base is hoping for is a vast improvement in terms of being competitive against a CAA schedule which as yet to see A&T win a game in a two-year span.
They expect to see a team that is physically aggressive that plays with emotion and fire each week. They expect to see improvement in all three phases of the game and a return to the hard nosed approach of winning with solid defense and consistent offense which made A&T famous. Flashiness wasn’t ever A&T’s calling card but good sound fundamental football (just do chicken) always has been.
If Gibbs can restore that culture and mindset that has been missing these last to years back into the A&T locker room, the wins on the field will take care of themselves.
So let’s get to it. We are pleased for the 23nd consecutive year to present to you the Bluedeathvalley.com’s 2025 preseason preview of North Carolina A&T Football. First up will be the offensive side of the ball.
A&T will sport more scholarship quarterbacks on its roster than anyone would have anticipated going into this fall which is a complete surprise considering the quarterback room looked like a M.A.S.H unit at the end of spring practice. Going into fall camp the starting job is wide open and anyone of the active QBs will have legitimate shot.
First Alston Hooker, the grad transfer who spent last year at FAMU, who was frozen out under the Brown regime as an underclassman, was thought to be the major player for that coveted starting position before he went down early on with a freak knee injury that has knocked him out for the season.
Next, junior K.J. White, who missed most of last season with an injury, seemed to regain his old form before breaking a leg late into spring ball and appears to be still a good ways away from being viable for the fall.
Braxton Thomas (6-3, 220) is a redshirt freshman from Sarasota, Fl. who saw action last year as a true freshman making a couple of starts in the process, made some big strides in the spring under new offensive coordinator Greg McGhee and is challenging for the starting job. Thomas is rapidly developing classic pro-style quarterback with a big frame who moves well both inside and outside of the pocket.
Junior Noah Sanders (6-2, 215) acquitted himself very well in the spring game in making plays with his feet and showed improvement in the passing game. The former Delaware transfer has the physical tools to be a dual threat in the backfield.
A most intriguing choice is Big Ten transfer Robert “ Champ” Long Jr. The 6-0, 205 sophomore comes to Greensboro from the University of Maryland. Long was one of the top quarterbacks out the New Jersey area two years ago and has consistently shown a big time arm with good accuracy through the first part of fall camp and will be in the thick of the battle for playing time.
A&T signed a couple of very talented freshmen including consensus 6-A all-state quarterback Jy’Aire Walls (6-2, 190) from Pittsburgh, PA who threw for 2657 yards and 28 TDs as a senior at Central Catholic High School.
Nelson Layne (6-4, 195) is a 3-star dual threat quarterback recruit who put together back-to-back seasons of both 1,000+ yards passing and 1,000+ yards running joining Micheal Vick and Ron Curry in Virginia high school record books as the only quarterbacks to ever achieve that accomplishment.
Quarterback is the big unknown for A&T going into this season. There is an open competition at every position with a new head coach but none may be more important than who wins the starting role at quarterback to help guide what appears to be an otherwise solid offense with a good amount of fire power on paper.
Is this the year that A&T gets back to being “Tailback U” with regaining its established trademark of having a dependable 1,000-yard rusher in its starting backfield?
It may be “running back by committee” until someone separates themselves from a large stable of talent. The leader of the group is senior Wesley Graves (5-9, 220) who is a terrific power runner between the tackles and is deceptively quick when he reaches the second level. Graves has been the go to option in short yardage situations especially in the red zone.
Wofford transfer J.T. Smith (6-0, 210, Jr.)) has been extremely impressive in both spring practice and fall camp and will be a major factor in the A&T running game. Smith was second in rushing for the Terriers with 74 carries and 283 yards. He was third on the team in receptions with 24 and was fifth in receiving yards with 192. He accounted for five total touchdowns, with three rushing and two receiving.
Another key returnee is shifty Shimique Blizzard (5-8, 200, R-Jr.) who rushed for 431 yards and 3 TDs a year ago and eventually became A&T’s featured back and a starter by year’s end. Jailen Hicks (6-4, 210, So.) has finally overcome off season injuries from his freshman year should play a key role with his explosive 4.4 track speed which served him well as part of A&T’s CAA championship relay teams. He is a breakaway threat every time he touches ball in space.
The sleeper of the group may be former 4-star prospect Daniel Coles (6-1, 207, So.) who is blessed with all kinds of physical talent with speed, size, and hands to become a premier back. He spent last year transitioning to the college game in a reserve role with 104 yards rushing and 62 yards on 8 receptions along with 2 TDS.
One newcomer to keep your eyes peeled for is Norfolk State transfer R.J. Baker (5-8, 180, R-So.). Baker is a home grown product from Greensboro Dudley where he and Hicks starred in the same backfield for the Panthers state championship team in 2022. The former all-state back played slot receiver for NSU last season with 4 receptions for 81 yards and 2 TDS. The redshirt sophomore will now move back to his natural position at A&T which gives the Aggies another potential home run hitter at tailback.
If there is a underrated group to watch it may be the tight ends, who in large part had become an afterthought over the last decade but that may change in hurry in the new offensive scheme that A&T will employ this fall. Tight ends have traditionally been blockers in days past but the development of some more fleet footed receiver first types may change that perception.
Anthony Rucker (6-3, 220, R-Jr.) had a bit of a coming out party of sorts in 2024 with 19 receptions for 210 yards and three TDs as a part-time starter. Blessed with excellent hands and strong route runner he will play a major role in the A&T passing game this season.
Antoine Bell ( 6-4, 225, R-Jr.) transferred in from Western Carolina two years and began to contribute to the offense in the latter half of season in a meaningful way with 5 receptions for 55 yards and a TD against Towson State.
The Aggies raised a few eyebrows with the addition of highly regarded junior college transfer Jaylen Baker (6-5, 235) who was rated as one of the ten best JUCO tight end prospects in the California JUCO ranks. Baker is a big target with good speed with a long wingspan besides being a effective blocker.
Tony Sanchez (6-4, 230) is a very promising freshman prospect from Gainesville, Fl. whose best football is ahead of him. He has the physical frame to get bigger and stronger without losing any of his eye pooping 4.53 speed.
The outside receivers have a good mixture of both veterans and newcomers, size and speed, with a good bit of playing experience across the board.
Javonne Dillard (6-3, 210, R-So.) is the Aggies top returning wideout with 33 receptions for 393 yards and is being counted on to increase those numbers this season. Dillard has the potential and skill set to be that big physical type of wideout that is nightmare for smaller corners to defend especially in the red zone.
Back and finally healthy is the senior duo of Amonte Jones (5-11, 165) and Jamison Warren (5-11,185) who have the speed to stretch defenses vertically, something that has been missing in the Aggie offense for a while.
Warren had 202 yards on 15 catches while the big play specialist Jones played hurt most of year appearing in just 4 games after stellar freshman and sophomore campaigns. Both should be in the starting lineup when the season begins.
Thomas Brown (6-3, 190, Jr.), Cortez Lane (5-11, 185, So.) , Laquan Veney ( 511, 170, R-Jr.), Elijah Kennedy (5-10,180, Jr.), Mark Tillman (6-3, 205, R-So.) and Rory Jones-Amen-Hetep (6-2, 185, R-So.) all have considerable game experience from a year ago and each of these veterans has shown considerable improvement through spring and summer workouts.
New names will also enter into the rotation with redshirt freshman Michael Carlock-Williams (6-4,190) , ECU transfer Ryan Stephens (5-9, 175, So.), and Corbin Wilson (6-3, 205, R-Fr.) will all see action in A&T’s multiple receiver sets.
With so many capable wideouts readily available versus the limited numbers from last season, it may come down to who are the best down field blockers to determine who will get the most playing time which is good thing.
There was a lot of talk in the offseason about the inconsistency of the offensive. There were a lot of contributing factors to that. Injuries played a big role but none as impactful than as losing 5 of the top offensive linemen, including 3 starters to FBS programs through the portal . Several new inexperienced reserves then had to be injected into starting roles ahead of their time. Add in an offensive scheme that never really translated to the available personnel’s actual strengths it all came together to make for a very long season.
Now with a promise to get back to the basic premise of execution and physicality first, the the O-line, led by longtime position coach Ron Mattes, is looking to get back to being a dominant force sooner rather than later.
A lot of effort was put in by this staff to increase both the size and depth of the offensive line. The Aggies loaded up on immediate impact linemen that come to the table with both the proven experience and the credentials to play in the CAA, a league dominated by big offensive linemen.
Korion Sharpe (6-4,315) enters his final year as one of the very best lineman in the FCS and is being seriously followed by NFL scouts. Sharpe is not only a preseason All-CAA team pick but he locked down that same honor in the postseason voting last year as well. As a matter of fact, Sharpe was a first team pick when A&T was still in the Big South back in 2022.
Add in returning starters Johnathan Cannon (6-5, 305, GR.) at guard and Sterling Wiggins (6-6, 310, R-So.) at tackle and the Aggies will have a very solid nucleus to build around this fall. That is a boatload of real-time game snaps among the starters that wasn’t there a year ago.
A&T got a jump with some mid-year transfers so there was time this year to integrate returning players with the new guys in the spring before fall camp began which was a big plus.
The one thing that is evident is there is far more experience in the lineup this year over last. Transfers Andrew Dorsey (Fort Valley State) and Gabe Navarro (Virginia State) both have extensive experience as starters. Dorsey (6-3,300, Jr.) is a proven 2-time All-SIAC selection and will be manning the center position this fall. Navarro (6-4, 285) started as a true freshman at tackle for the Trojans and was a CIAA All-Rookie team selection and honorable mention all-conference.
The one concern was finding adequate quality depth in behind the first unit. Again mixing older transfers in with the younger players hopefully will provide the right combination of maturity and athleticism. Gibbs readily admitted back in the spring that the Aggies would have establish a more physical presence on offense.
There will be some upperclassmen with game experience, a stock of redshirt freshmen, and a few interesting transfers that should provide that extra size and depth that was missing in 2024.
Those returnees that have some games under their belt are backup center Kaleb Culberson (6-1, 260, R-Sr.) and Noah Okoye (6-6, 310, R-Fr.) who got in four games as a true freshman.
Other redshirt freshmen will play a vital role and there are some good ones stepping up on the depth chart in Kevin Culberson (6-2, 305), Tim Hammonds (6-5, 290), and huge Jodi Freeman (6-7, 340).
A&T was also active in the transfer portal acquiring Phinnell Marshall (6-5, 310) from Gardner Webb, Tyson Moorer (6-4, 285) from East Tennessee State, and Tommy Garcia (6-6, 325) from San Jacinto Junior College. With these new additions there should far less of a drop-off in when rotations are settled upon and when injuries do occur which they inevitably will in the game of football.
