Mike Williams

Until this year’s 5-4 record, we had not had a winning football season since the Larry Little days when the 1996 team went 8-3.

That season NCCU had the conference’s No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense. That same year, 11 players earned post-season honors. Those were the good ol’ days.

Is 5-4 really a winning season?

Well, I guess so, since that does show that you have won more games than you lost.

But it’s like we just barely won those games!

The way I see it, there are three reasons why this season wasn’t something to shout about.

One, we can’t keep players around long enough for them to make an impact on the field! We have had so many players who play one season and then fail to meet the requirements in the classroom. That way, after only one campaign, they become ineligible.

Of course, that issue should be solved now that the requirements have been changed to better suit athletes.

Next, the most common amongst the fans, ol’ smooth’s (Abrams) play calling. One person said that our team has an “elementary playbook”.

Others say we run the ball too much and our opponent aldready knows what we are going to do.

I don’t know about the playbook being elementary, but it does seem kind of basic.

I think Abrams and his staff could make some changes —okay, a lot of changes — on how the offense is run.

Finally, experience. This year’s team was young, especially on offense. We had not one, but two freshman quarterbacks.

Don’t get it twisted, they are both very talented, but they lack game experience on this level.

The only medicine for that is time. Give them that, and they will get better.

Don’t get me wrong; I am not making excuses for Abrams. I still think we should have won at least seven games in each of the past two seasons. With all the talent we have had on both sides of the ball, we should have had more success.

But things happen, and some things can’t be prevented, I know that, so I give ol’ smooth the benefit of the doubt.

Of course he is the obvious person to blame, since he is the coach. But really, he is just getting started.

This past season was the first showcase of his recruiting class. I predict that with a smarter offensive scheme, next season will be a breakout year for N.C. Central.

I think Abrams will start to change things up on the blackboard so we can get some marks in the win column. The bottom line is, we should be winning more games than we have been.

The way I see it, Abrams has one, maybe two more chances to put up the winning numbers.

If next season comes around and we are still going through a football recession, then I can see Abrams getting a one-way ticket out the door.