HBCU football’s strong history, cultural background and distinctive gameday experience spark high expectations around Howard football for the 2025 season.
Heading into his fifth year as head coach of the Howard Bison, many students are looking at Larry Scott to continue to build on their foundation, having high expectations for the 2025 season.
It’s too early to tell how this team can potentially shape out this season, but the Bison will be directed towards how they can make the right adjustments from last year. If they can stay healthy, they can expect at least a six win season. The MEAC championship is truly a reach this season.
Norfolk State University and Delaware State University adding former NFL teammates Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson as their respective head coaches makes the Bison’s road to the Celebration Bowl a lot more grueling.
The Bison also have to look out for other powerhouse programs such as Morgan State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University. These universities were each voted in the top three as preseason favorites to take home the MEAC championship.
Dior Blair-Brown, a senior sports medicine major, said he expects from the team what’s become the norm since he’s been at Howard, MEAC titles.
With previous success comes future expectations for the Bison. Since Howard had early success in Scott’s earlier seasons, Bison fans are expecting Howard football to be back on top of the MEAC.
Fans need to be patient because the MEAC just got better. With two prominent head coaches now in the MEAC, how can Howard football stay relevant?
In Scott’s time as head coach, he has coached the Bison to back-to-back MEAC titles in 2022 and 2023, and their first-ever appearance in the Cricket Celebration Bowl in 2023.
After these historic seasons, 42 players were named to the MEAC Football All-Academic Team.
14 were named to All-MEAC honors, including former defensive back Kenny Gallop Jr., who received numerous accolades in his career at Howard, including the 2023 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year.
The expectation is simple this season: win more games and contend for a title.
The Bison lost one of their top players on the defensive side of the ball, Kenny Gallop Jr., granting the opportunity for players to step up this season.
Blair-Brown hopes the Bison can get back to title-contending form after finishing 4-8 overall in 2024 due to injuries. Quarterback Jashawn Scroggins’ injury earlier in the season hindered the Bison’s play moving forward.
“I believe last year was more of the exception than the standard,” Blair-Brown said. “We were battling multiple injuries in the trenches, on both sides of the ball. Then injuries across the roster hindered our depth.”
Injuries were the problem for the Bison last season, with players battling to get back to full health. With this healthier roster going into week one, the standard will be to win more football games.
Howard students want to get back in the win column this season. While many seniors are expecting another MEAC title this season, Joshua Smothers, a junior business management major, said he is on the fence.
“I am looking at this year as a rebuilding year,” Smothers said. “Compared to conference play, I think a 7-5 record with three to four conference wins would show some meaningful progress this year.”
The Bison will be on the road for the first game of the season against Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University at the Orange Bloom Classic on Aug. 30 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
This will be the Bison’s first opportunity to show off the improvements made during the offseason because fans are expecting it.
This game is not only a rematch of the 2023 Celebration Bowl, but it will also showcase these two teams that previously played in the Orange Bloom Classic in 1933.
Many fans are also excited to watch Howard’s Showtime Marching Band.
If Howard football is expecting a higher crowd turnout, they have to win more games.
Showtime is the highlight of Howard’s halftime show. The band performs at all Howard football games, displaying their talents at a national level.
The Showtime Marching Band will also make its season debut at the 2025 Orange Blossom Classic.
“I love the halftime shows with the Showtime band because it accentuates a culture that even the most decorated college football programs can’t replicate,” Blair-Brown said. “It’s an energy that you only find at an HBCU.”
Students expressed their enthusiasm to watch the marching band perform this season. Fans come for Showtime, but they need to stay for primetime. Hopefully, the adjustments by the Bison this season will alter the fan turnouts this upcoming season, keeping fans in their seats.
With the football season here, many Bison already have their eyes on Howard’s homecoming.
Smothers discussed the significance of Howard’s football culture on campus, with the homecoming game, Oct. 25, already circled on his calendar..
Homecoming is centred around football, bringing a large pool of alumni and visitors to the Mecca. This game is the perfect opportunity to show how the team will look later in the season. Judging the Bison off their first couple of games wouldn’t be fair, but homecoming is the perfect time to observe how competitive the Bison can be, with homecoming being in the middle of the season.
“All the events are centered around the football game, and we always have hundreds of people on campus, and it brings all the alumni back, ” Blair-Brown said.
If students are expecting results, so are alumni. Homecoming will be another opportunity for the Bison to display what changes were made in the offseason. The question anchoring campus is will Howard football bounce back?
The Howard Bison will match up against Morgan State during homecoming, adding to an already electrifying season with games being played in Miami, New York, Philadelphia and Nashville, with many eyes on the Bison this season, expecting a winning season.
How will the season shake out? Stay tuned and find out.
Copy edited by Damenica Ellis
