Since the school revived football in 2005 as a Division II program, Central State alumni and fans have seen anything but dominating football. The Marauders have lost 43 of their 55 games.
View full sizeCentral State graduate Erik Williams was one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL during the 1990s.CLEVELAND, Ohio — Central State University's football program was so good during much of the 1980s and early 1990s that it lived up to the team's nickname: Marauders. They obliterated the competition.
"We were so good that we gave our student body and alumni something to brag about," said former Central State and Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Erik Williams. "We were well-respected."
Central State was so respected that it became the first Historically Black College and University to play for a national title, losing to North Dakota State in the Palm Bowl Division II championship game in 1983.
The school in Wilberforce was also the first to win consecutive Sheridan Black College Football titles (1986-90). CSU also won three NAIA titles, in 1990, '92 and '95. Future NFL players such as Williams, Vince Buck and 1995 first-round draft pick Hugh Douglas wore the maroon and gold.
Back then, the school was able to recruit NFL-caliber talent for several reasons.
Many players who didn't meet the academic requirements to play Division I college football were able to qualify for Division II and the NAIA, divisions in which CSU has played its football.
"Central State was a last-resort thing because I wasn't heavily recruited due to my low SAT scores," Williams said. "Central State called me, and I'm so grateful I got the opportunity to live out a dream to go to college."
And coach Billy Joe, who orchestrated the dynasty, had other advantages.
"We were the first school back then that recruited players who transferred from major-college programs," Joe said. "I also had an advantage because, unlike most coaches in black college football, I came in with NFL coaching experience as an assistant with Philadelphia. I also had an administration who paid for good assistants."
All those advantages helped the Marauders dominate the early 1990s with pinball-machine football scores. There was the 83-0 blowout of rival Kentucky State in 1992. Three years earlier, Central State scored 101 points in a game -- in three quarters -- against Lane College.
But in 1997, Central State was found to have used academically ineligible players in football and baseball. The Ohio General Assembly required the school to drop football for two years if it wanted to continue receiving state funding, and the program was disbanded.
Since the school revived football in 2005 as a Division II program, Central State alumni and fans have seen anything but dominating football. The Marauders have lost 43 of their 55 games.
That happens when you can only afford 13 scholarships, which means Central State will field a team mostly of walk-ons against North Carolina Central at noon today in the Cleveland Classic at Browns Stadium. The Marauders have gone from a team once feared to a team many want on their homecoming schedule.
The suffering won't last, Joe said. He is confident his former school will return to where it once was.
"If you have the scholarships, the players will come," Joe said. "The players are not coming if they have to pay their own way. Until Central State gets more scholarships, it will just continue to be an exercise in futility."
Buck said his alma mater is at least on the right track.
"They've basically started over," said Buck, who spent six years with the New Orleans Saints and is now a business owner in New Orleans. "It seems like they're getting back on track with some quality coaches. It's only a matter of time. The Marauders will be back."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bwright@plaind.com, 216-999-4671
Source: http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2011/09/cleveland_classic_central_stat.html
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