As we count down to the start of the new year, one of the questions we can look forward to answering is how the new HBCU football coaches will fit into their new home.
Six of the 11 head coach positions vacant at the end of the season have already been filled.
Here, we’ll take a look at those coaching hires and rate them, along with the remaining five vacancies once announced.
Albany State: David Bowser
Grade: A-
The 2025 season was a historic one for the reigning SIAC champion Albany State Golden Rams, finishing with a 12-2 overall record, setting a new school record for wins in a season.
After winning their first SIAC championship since 2021, the Golden Rams then went on a long run in the Division II Playoffs, advancing to the Regional Final.
Albany State found itself on the coaching market at the end of the season, with Quinn Gray leaving after three years to fill the vacant position at Florida A&M.
is to take Gray’s place longtime HBCU football coach David Bowsermarked his first coaching from the CIAA in more than 20 years in the conference.
This will be Bowser’s second career head coaching job, having previously coached the St. Augustine Falcons, who compiled a 2-16 overall record.
Bowser spent 20 seasons in various roles before taking on the head coaching role at Saint Aug. These include assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator.
During his tenure with the Broncos, the longtime coach helped the team to seven CIAA championships and three first-place finishes.
Bowser spent the last two seasons as the Defensive Coordinator at Johnson C. Smith and helped lead the team to its first CIAA championship in more than half a century.
Despite his tenure at Saint Augustine’s, Bowser has shown he has championship pedigree by building a system that maximizes the talent around him.
Being allowed to work in an administration that has structure and is committed to winning will give him a chance to show his true worth as a head coach.
Florida A&M: Quinn Gray
Grade: A+
Speaking of Albany State, former head coach Quinn Gray is headed to Tallahassee to revitalize his alma mater after two years out.
After the departure of head coach Willie Simmons, who led the team to a Celebration Bowl victory in his final season, a controversial coaching search ended with the Rattlers landing James Colsey to fill the position.
Florida A&M has had its worst two seasons since joining the SWAC, combining for a 12-12 overall record and a 9-7 conference record.
It finished the 2025 season 5-7, marking the team’s first losing record since 2017 (the year before Coach Simmons was hired).
Looking for a new spark, the Rattlers have become a campus legend coming off a historic stint at Albany State.
In his three seasons as head coach of the Golden Rams, Coach Gray compiled a 24-11 overall record with a 20-4 mark against the SIAC.
He led the team to two SIAC championship games and won the conference title this past season.
Coach Gray talks about Florida A&M’s best possible next head coach.
He’s a program legend with enough coaching experience to attract top talent in the lucrative South Florida market.
Hampton: Van Malone
Grade: B+
After just two seasons under head coach Trenton Boykin (one as full-time head coach), Hampton decided it was time for a change.
The Pirates posted their worst single-season performance in some time, finishing 2-10 against the CAA and 0-8 without a win.
Hampton, which hasn’t posted a winning season since 2018 and has fallen out of championship contention year after year, is turning to a longtime college assistant for a solution.
Coach Van Malone brings 23 years of college coaching experience to the Pirates, including 15 years at the Power Five level.
Malone was notably named the 2017 Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
The longtime coach certainly has the credentials To lead the Pirates program. The question is, will it be enough to turn their fortunes around?
Savannah State: Thomas Howard
Degree: B
A coaching change was needed for Savannah State after previous head coach Aaron Kelton stepped down after four seasons.
During his tenure, the Tigers went 11-20 in SIAC competition and finished with a 16-24 overall record.
In his role as head coach at Savannah State, Thomas Howard is no stranger to helping turnarounds for HBCU programs.
A former Morehouse student-athlete, Howard brings 20 years of coaching experience to the table.
That includes a five-year stint as linebackers coach at North Carolina A&T from 2015-2019, where the team enjoyed its most successful run in school history.
Most recently, Howard served as Fayetteville State’s defensive coordinator, helping the team improve from the eighth-ranked defense in the conference the previous year to a second-ranked defense this past season.
Howard is well-deserving of the head coaching opportunity, with all eyes on his next move after officially stepping into the role on January 6.
South: Marshall Faulk
Grade: B-
To return to championship glory, the Southern Jaguars called on Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk to turn the program around.
The 2025 season was a disaster to say the least for South, finishing with a 2–10 overall record and a 1–7 conference record.
Along with the team’s worst record in 15 years, it also featured the longest nine-game losing streak in school history.
Faulk will be Southern’s third full-time head coach since 2022.
He comes to the Jaguars with limited coaching experience, having served as the running backs coach for Colorado last year.
Louisiana native Faulk’s fast track to becoming a head coach in the South could be a cause for concern.
This season, on opposite ends of the spectrum, we got two great examples of NFL bigs with little to no coaching experience being accepted as HBCU head coaches.
Time will tell if Faulk will defy expectations and lead the South back to glory, or Baton Rouge will continue to struggle.
Winston-Salem State: Tory Woodbury
Grade: A+
Florida A&M isn’t the only team to turn to a program legend to be its next head coach, as Winston-Salem State did just that to get back into the championship picture.
The Rams took over coach Robert Massey, who finished his final season with a 4-6 overall record.
In four seasons as full-time head coach (he served as interim coach the first two years), Massey compiled an 18-21 record.
This included a 7–3 mark in the 2024 season, which proved to be the team’s first winning season since 2018.
To take over as WSSU’s head coach, former star player Tory Woodbury brings a wealth of coaching experience to the table.
Over the past 15 years, Woodbury has put together an impressive coaching portfolio that includes numerous stops at the collegiate and professional levels.
His most notable accomplishment was assistant special teams coach for the Los Angeles Rams, helping the team to two Super Bowl appearances and winning the Lombardi Trophy in 2021.
It was a home run for Winston-Salem State to snap a 10-year drought without a CIAA title.
Woodbury has the knowledge needed to rebuild a WSSU program with a deep-rooted history of winning.
