BOWIE, Maryland -- During the late 1970’s then Houston Oilers quarterback Dan Pastorini made a bold declaration after a second straight AFC Championship Game loss to the great Pittsburgh Steelers. “Last year we knocked on the door, this year we banged on it, next year we’re going to kick it in.” The Oilers never went back to that championship game and ultimately became the Tennessee Titans.
Bowie State finds themselves in the same circumstance entering this season. For the last two years they’ve lost to Winston Salem State in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Championship game which drives everyone in the program as they try to find the key to get that last victory and bring a football championship home.
“Our veteran leaders have had a lot of success and done all we asked of them so I would like to send them out with a championship,” head coach Damon Wilson told the AFRO.
Despite not having as many full scholarships or a complete full time coaching staff, Bowie State has dominated the northern division of the CIAA. The Bulldogs know what it takes to win the division but with Virginia State, Virginia Union and Chowan closing the gap nothing is guaranteed.
NCAA Division II rules state football teams can award a maximum of 53 full scholarships yet Bowie St. can only offer 11. Those same rules also mandate that programs can totally compensate seven full time staff coaching positions yet they can only afford two. The financial disparity that separates them from the other elite programs in the CIAA is not an excuse but a reality that hovers over the program every year.
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