This one-hour documentary uses the life and legacy of legendary Florida A&M University football Coach Alonzo "Jake" Gaither to examine the impact HBCU football programs had on African American life during the nation's period of segregation.
Since the establishment of athletic programs at these prestigious institutions, HBCU coaches, including Gaither, viewed college sports as an inroads for African Americans to access higher education. Like Gaither, many HBCU coaches insisted their players make education their priority so they could earn a college degree and become productive members of their family, their community and society.
Gaither is historically regarded as using the football field as a “laboratory” for developing men. Like Gaither, HBCU coaches did not just want their players to win on the field. They wanted them to win in life. They inspired hundreds of young people to rise to their fullest potential, mentoring young men and women
who became professional athletes, coaches, teachers, clergy, entrepreneurs, business professionals, and civic leaders that transformed communities throughout the nation. Additionally, many HBCU coaches, like Gaither, used sports as a mechanism for social change. Gaither, skillfully, without contention used sports to help improve race relations in and beyond the state of Florida.
The documentary lends special cinematic emphasis to the iconic coach’s private campaign to organize and play the first college football game between a southern Black university and a southern white university. On November 29, 1969, FAMU faced No. 6 ranked University of Tampa in a game that held major social implications. The Rattlers emerged victorious 34-28 in the historic game that helped discredit long-standing racial myths about black coaches, black quarterbacks and race relations between Florida’s segregated populations.
Produced by Saving Our Stories Media Production
Dedicated to preserving African American history through innovative digital storytelling. SOS Media aims to capture and share the rich tapestry of the African American experience, focusing on narratives that are often overlooked or at risk of being forgotten.
sneak peek
Alonzo S. Gaither, who built a powerful athletic machine at Florida A&M University, the state’s only public historically black university, is known as the winningest college football coach of his era. His pioneering coaching tactics propelled FAMU’s athletic program beyond the parameters of the HBCU universe into the broader American culture, with the team’s stellar performance being covered on sports pages of daily mainstream and black niche newspapers across the country.
