HBCU football: Johnson C. Smith is finding success with Charlotte-area talent

Maurice Flowers said it wasn’t hard to find the solution to Johnson C. Smith’s football problems.

It was right in the Golden Bulls’ back yard.

“We are right in the middle of so much talent,” Flowers said. “We just had to get some of those players to come here.”

Armed heavily with Charlotte-area talent, the Golden Bulls are 6-0 (3-0 in the CIAA) and ranked 20th nationally in this week’s American Football Coaches Association Division II poll.

They’ll aim to keep their unbeaten season going Saturday when they host Shaw (4-3, 2-2) at 1 p.m. for Homecoming.

“We are blessed to be in Charlotte,” Flowers said. “If you look at the rosters of FBS and FCS teams, you’ll see they’re loaded with players from the Charlotte metro area.”

Flowers knows a little about that. He played at East Mecklenburg High and coached at Olympic, West Charlotte and Chester, before moving into the college coaching ranks nearly 15 years ago as an assistant at his alma mater, Johnson C. Smith.

When he was named head coach of the Golden Bulls in 2022, Flowers said he and his staff made a conscious decision to keep some of the Charlotte-area talent at home.

“We define the Charlotte area as being about a 50-mile radius of the city,” he said. “That includes some of the Upstate in South Carolina.”

Local flavor

The results are obvious this season.

Quarterback Darius Ocean, of Hough High, has thrown for 1,438 yards and 11 touchdowns. The leading rusher is Harding High’s Quavaris Crouch, and a pair of Independence High grads, Brevin Caldwell and Brian Morgan, are the team’s leading receivers.

Linebacker Benari Black of North Mecklenburg leads the team in tackles (64) and has two sacks and 11 tackles for loss. Defensive back Shamar Baker, of Mallard Creek, has 24 tackles, 2.5 sacks and three interceptions. Safety Tynan Tucker of Statesville has 23 tackles.

Flowers said recruiting the Charlotte area pays in two ways. Not only does Johnson C. Smith land some of the region’s outstanding players, but those players also have a built-in local fan base.

“We love to get their families at our games,” he said. “And we get some great crowds.”

Flowers said he loves the view from the Irwin Belk Complex during night games, with the Uptown Charlotte landscape in clear view.

“We like to say that our stadium has the best view in D-II,” he said.

‘Great to come home’

Ocean said coming back home to play football was one key reason why he left Valdosta State in Georgia to play this season at Johnson C. Smith.

“All my friends can come and see us play,” he said. “It was great to come home again.”

Flowers and Ocean each said they knew the current team had something special when the Golden Bulls faced perennially strong Wingate in a scrimmage last spring.

“This is the first year that the NCAA allowed Division II schools to have a scrimmage,” Flowers said. “Wingate has an excellent football program, yet we held our own with them.”

Ocean added, “I knew then that we could be pretty good this fall.”

Flowers guided the Golden Bulls to a 7-4 record and a berth in the Florida Beach Bowl last season. Johnson C. Smith hasn’t enjoyed back-to-back winning seasons since 2010 and 2011, when Flowers was offensive coordinator.

There are potential pitfalls ahead, as the Golden Bulls aim to land a spot in the CIAA title game Nov. 16 in Salem, Va. The CIAA has been crowning football champions since 2012. Johnson C. Smith has won the title only once, in 1969.

This week’s opponent, Shaw, upset the Golden Bulls in Raleigh a year ago. Also ahead are teams like Winston-Salem (Oct. 26) and traditional closing foe Livingstone (Nov. 9). Both of those teams are just a game behind CIAA co-leaders Johnson C. Smith and Virginia Union.

“We don’t talk about the championship game,” Flowers said. “We’re 3-0 in the conference. There are a lot of games left. We have upcoming games against some of our traditional opponents.”

“We just try to have the right mindset, to take things day by day,” he added. “Get to all your classes, do your studying, keep practicing hard. It’s a matter of doing things on a daily basis. That’s what got us here. We have to keep doing it.”