A contract signed last offseason upped the ante for Grambling coach Rod Broadway, who claimed a series of incentives after leading the program to just its fifth 11-win season in school history in 2008.
Broadway originally signed a $156,000 contract in March of 2007, a rate similar to that of former Grambling coach Melvin Spears, that then was scheduled to escalate to $177,000 through 2010.
A richer, longer deal came in the wake of interest both from Duke and Florida A&M at the conclusion of Broadway’s initial season at the helm in Grambling.
His new agreement — approved this time last year by the University of Louisiana System, which oversees GSU — began at $170,000 then upgraded to $215,000 by 2011. Also included: an improved series of escalators, most of which Broadway met through a superlative year.
Broadway was coming off an eight-win campaign, reversing the previous year’s record, and had captured the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s Western Division before falling to Jackson State in the 2007 the league title match. Over his second season, Broadway improved that initial victory total by three, claiming the Bayou Classic rivalry game against Southern and then the 2008 SWAC crown in a rematch with Jackson last December.
That means Broadway is scheduled to receive an additional $6,000 for winning the Bayou Classic, $5,000 for topping the SWAC West and and then $7,500 for that conference crown. Broadway also earned $7,500 for playing Nevada, a Football Bowl Subdivision team, in 2008.
Before arriving at Grambling, Broadway was a 20-year assistant at North Carolina, Florida, East Carolina and Duke. He then compiled a 33-11 record as head coach at Division II North Carolina Central, a stay that included back-to-back Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles in 2005-06.
GSU finished at No. 25 in The Sports Network’s final 2007 poll of Football Championship Subdivision teams, the only SWAC program to be ranked. He then captured Sheridan Broadcasting’s mythical black college national championship in ’08, edging Tuskegee with the win over JSU.
Like most lower-division programs, there is no buyout clause: Broadway “may terminate this agreement by written notice at any time,” according to the contract.
A SECOND RECRUITING LOOK
Grambling’s 2008 signing day class has been ranked No. 2 in the SWAC, and No. 4 among historically black colleges and universities, by Press Box To Press Row — the North Carolina-based radio show and Web site devoted to HBCU athletics.
“Grambling had quite a few two and three-star recruits,” according to BoxToRow. “Athlete Curtis McGregor from Houston’s Eisenhower was one of the gems of this class. He is a Rivals.com three-star recruit and was ranked 33rd nationally amongst all-purpose backs. And while the Tigers’ backfield is crowded with Cornelius Walker and Frank Warren, McGregor represents a receiving threat as well.”
The site noted “a talented crop of DBs,” as well as athlete Deonte Flemings of Erie, Pa., who “received interest from the University of Pittsburgh and turned down a scholarship to Ohio to sign with Grambling. He received a two-star rating by Rivals.com and was ranked 89th nationally amongst CBs by Scout.com.”
Tennessee State received the top overall ranking among HBCUs from BoxToRow, which noted running back Trabis Ward’s four-star rating on Rivals. Prairie View A&M received top billing in the SWAC, having signed safety Eric Moore of City College of San Francisco, given three stars by Rivals.
No. 5 was South Carolina State, Grambling’s opening-day opponent in the 2009 MEAC-SWAC Challenge, to be played in Orlando, Fla. Jackson State was No. 6; Southern was No. 8.
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