BROAD(WAY) SPECULATION: As of press time (Tuesday, Dec. 18), Rod Broadway was still officially Grambling State's football coach. But that may change. The first-year Grambling coach is reportedly mulling an offer to take over the head coaching duties at Florida A&M where he would rejoin President James Ammons and Athletic Director Bill Hayes, who were his with him during his four years as head coach at North Carolina Central University. Broadway refused to comment on the rumor Saturday after his Grambling team fell 42-31 to Jackson State at the ninth SWAC Championship Game in Birmingham. Broadway was 32-11 during his stay at NCCU and won back-to-back CIAA championships and earned NCAA Div. II playoff berths in his final two seasons. He left after last year to take over at Grambling and led the G-Men to the SWAC West Division title and a berth in the league's title game while compiling an 8-4 overall mark. Reports Tuesday from newspapers in Tallahassee, Fl. and Ruston, La., indicate that Broadway has been offered a substantial raise by FAMU from his reported $156,000 contract with Grambling. GSU Athletic Director Troy Matthieu has also reportedly countered that move by offering to sweeten his deal with Grambling.

Editor's Note (12/19/07): Broadway has announced that he is staying at Grambling.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME NOTES: ­ The SWAC Championship Game trophy was re-named in honor of legendary Grambling head coach, the late Eddie Robinson at a pre-game ceremony Saturday. The Eddie Robinson SWAC Championship Trophy was unveiled at a midfield ceremony with grandson Eddie Robinson III and family friend Wilbert Ellis. Ellis, a former baseball coach and administrator at Grambling and close friend of Robinson, is the chief local fundraiser for the planned Eddie Robinson Museum on the GSU campus. Robinson died last April at 88 from complications related to Alzheimer's. He set a still-standing Division I record with 408 career wins over a 57-season career at Grambling.

­ Saturday's attendance of 43,236 for the Grambling State/Jackson State match-up was the second largest crowd in SWAC Championship Game history. Jackson State played Southern in the inaugural game in 1999 that drew 47,621.

TUSKEGEE EARNS SBN #1: The Tuskegee University Golden Tigers have captured the 2007 SBN Black College National Championship honors. Under the leadership of head coach Willie Slater, the Golden Tigers (12-0) finished the regular season undefeated and won their second straight Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Championship. During the season, Tuskegee also became the first and only historically Black College or university to win 600 career football games and is one of only two in the NCAA Division II to achieve that mark. In the final SBN Black College Poll this season, Tuskegee finished with 28 first place votes and 292 points to win the Jake Gaither National Championship Trophy. The award is named in honor of the legendary Florida A&M Rattlers head coach who led his teams to 203 wins and six national titles during a 25-year span. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) champion, Delaware State, finished in second place. The Hornets final poll tally was 206 points and two first place votes. Tuskegee University will officially receive their second championship trophy this decade Saturday, February 16, 2008, during the 34th Annual SBN Black College All-American Banquet at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia. Other honorees will include the 2007 SBN All-American Offensive and Defensive teams, the 2007 SBN Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year and the 2007 SBN Coach of the Year.

© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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