Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
On Saturday (April 12), North Carolina A&T got what it wanted from its 2025 Blue vs. Gold Spring Football Game at Truist Stadium. With pregame festivities, tailgating, and a well-attended game, the Aggies are turning the Spring Game into an annual event celebration.
More importantly, the Aggies’ football program came away injury-free on the field. It was a major objective for first-year head coach Shawn Gibbs, considering he is not yet satisfied with the Aggies’ overall numbers and the recent injury to last season’s opening-game quarterback, Kevin White.
The Aggies are also without experienced QB Alston Hooker. In addition, the Aggies need some offensive and defensive linemen to heal, and they are waiting for some reinforcements to arrive on the East side of Greensboro. Therefore, keeping it simple emerged as the theme for Saturday’s Spring Game.
There was no points system. There was no determination of whether the offense beat the defense. It was just a straight scrimmage.
“The roster limit is 105 now,” said Gibbs. “We’re close to 100, but we only have 80-some guys out there practicing. We’ve got a lot of injuries. The Spring Game was a practice for us because we really don’t have the bodies to have a “Spring Game.”
We wanted to get better today. We’re now going to try to bring in these freshmen and get them coached up. Then, hit this transfer portal when it opens up and try to bring in a couple more pieces.”
Gibbs spent more than a decade on the A&T football staff, first under Rod Broadway (2011-17) and then Sam Washington (2018-21) before spending three seasons as the head coach at Fort Valley State. He returned to A&T as the head coach right before Christmas. Eventually, he brought back some familiar faces, including former A&T linebacker and Celebration Bowl defensive MVP Denzel Jones as defensive coordinator, and one of the best defensive backs in program history in Tony McRae to be the defensive backs coach.
Courtney Coard, A&T’s assistant head coach and defensive line coach, coached under Broadway and Washington, spending nearly a decade in Aggieland. Terry Lantz, who also coached under Broadway and Washington, is back as the Aggies inside linebackers coach.
Gibbs also kept four coaches from the previous head coach’s staff, including offensive linemen coach Ron Mattes (who also coached under Broadway and Washington) and wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Nate Poole (who also coached under Washington). Keith Henry, running backs, and Alex Purviance, tight ends, are also back from the previous staff.
There are also some familiar names back on the football field as well. Linebacker Jayden Williams played well defensively. Offensively, the Aggies running game looked in good hands with Jailen Hicks and Shimique Blizzard. While the quarterback position is uncertain due to injuries, Braxton Thomas and Noah Sanders give the Aggies some experience in the quarterback room.
Two more quarterbacks are expected to join the Aggies during preseason camp, and the Aggies expect to have receivers Amonte Jones, Cortez Lane, Anthony Rucker, Elijiah Kennedy, and Corbin Wilson back in the fold at receiver.
“We have to do a better job of getting them coached up, fundamentally and technique-wise, and we’ve got to cut down on some of the mistakes and learn how to play situational football,” said Gibbs. “But that’s on the coaches. We’ll get that done, but the players really have to commit themselves in the offseason.
We’re going to get started right after spring ball, get back to it, hit the weights, and try to get our strength and conditioning right where we want it up until we come to camp on July 28.”
Gibbs knows there is much work ahead before the Aggies play Tennessee State on August 30 in Nashville, Tenn. There is also an awareness that the previous two seasons did not go well for the Aggies. But as Saturday indicated with a new, fun, and more eventful Spring Game, Gibbs wants Aggieland to look toward the future.
“Everybody wants to talk about team bonding. I’m talking about team healing because these guys have been through a lot the past two years,” said Gibbs. “The one thing the fans can help with is stop bringing that up. We’ve moved on. It’s a new year. Let’s stop putting that in our guys’ heads. We are trying to move on to bigger and better things, so we don’t need to talk about what happened in the past. The good or the bad. We need to live in the moment.
Encourage our guys. Let them know we’re behind you, and we’re going to support you through thick or thin, through good and bad. We’re here for you. Let them know we love you and Aggie Pride is real.”
