Dishman and Jackson Set the Tone For New Rivalry At Labor Day Class Press Conference

THE COACHES' STATEMENTS

As the visitor, Coach Jackson gave his opening remarks, which lasted less than a minute. "I know I talk a lot," Jackson said. "People probably think I'm gonna get up here and say something. I really don't have anything to say. We're looking forward to coming back to Houston, where I'm from, in a stadium that I've never been able to get a part to be in, which I'm excited about...Everybody's going to talk about how excited they are. My family will be here. I'm quite sure everybody's family will be here. But it should be a good time here on Saturday at 7 O' Clock. Go Panthers!"

Coach Dishman was poking the bear as he took his shots at the new Panthers football coach, but Coach Jackson didn't flinch.

Here's one of the backstories. The Panthers listened to Coach Jackson singing about "Atlanta was on his mind." Dishman at the Tigers' spring scrimmage followed up with his rendition while being interviewed by HBCU Legends.  

At the presser, Dishman critiqued Jackson's signing ability, saying, " I'd like to thank Tremaine for his wonderful song he gave us. I wonder if he can sing that song after... I think it was something Atlanta or something he was singing one day Houston this weekend. Oh, yeah, you was horrible. I think you'll be able to keep your day job and coach and not sing."

Dishman dished out another jab: "Thank you, Tremaine, for coming out to seeing the stadium. Make sure when you leave, that you take a piece of grass. Because when you leave on Saturday, you're going to be taking a lot of grass. And also, thank you for wearing the Texas Southern color suit."   

His eyes must have deceived him, because Jackson was wearing a suit with Prairie View purple.

Throughout Coach Dishman's soliloquy, Jackson remained stoic, as he was ready for the Panthers to suit up immediately to take the field.

Later, Coach Jackson spoke about changing the lives of his players. "I'm eager for you guys to get to learn our kids' stories because football has changed their lives, regardless of what people think about how we recruit and how we go about business. And we're here to change lives in this game...We're not up here cracking Cracker Jack jokes!"

ABOUT THE TEAM LEADERS

The coaches were reluctant to spotlight their team leaders. "They've got some great players on both of these teams," Hall of Fame broadcaster Ralph Cooper noted this as a lost opportunity. "Many of them have Houston area connections. And I think personally, they should pump the players up."   

Cooper continued, "Why not? I mean, they [former HBCU coaches] did it back in the day and it worked. Can you imagine Doug Williams in a game like this, and you don't call Doug Williams name? Can you imagine even going back for the Eldridge Dickey, or Walter Payton or Dr. Doom, Robert Brazile, and you don't call their names. This would really be a problem if you knew the people who played at Texas Southern and Prairie View back in the day, and you said you're not calling Ernie Holmes's name, you're not calling Kenny Burrough's name, you're not calling Otis Taylor, Kenny Houston's name, or Bob Atkins name!"

It was odd. It's not as though each coach will devise a game plan against each of the teams' leaders, but it's a new era of HBCU coaching.

Nevertheless, this classic showdown sets the stage for Saturday night's game-climactic ending. Will Cris Dishman's projections of another victory for Texas Southern ring true? Or, can Prairie View's new regime reclaim dominance in this battle of crosstown HBCUs?

We shall see.