Prairie View has 103 football players out at spring camp, and there is fierce competition at nearly every position.
That’s exactly what Panthers head coach Tremaine Jackson wants as he goes through his second spring practices on The Hill. But who his likely starters will be and what his two-deep roster will look like going into fall camp isn’t all he wants to know about his team coming out of spring ball. He’s also focusing on his players’ health.
“Those things are normal. Everybody wants to be healthy,” Jackson said recently to the Defender. “But somebody has got to get hit. I need to see how people react after they get hit. I need to see who is going to do the hitting.
“We want to be known as a violent, physical football team. It’s only one way to find that out.”
It’s a fitting desire for a 2026 season that has already been dubbed Finish the Fight after the Panthers came so close to winning the program’s first national championship before falling to South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl.
This spring is when the get-back has begun in earnest as Jackson and Panthers start the process of accomplishing all that they did in their first season together – winning the SWAC West title, winning the SWAC Championship, and making it to Atlanta with the Black college national championship on the line – with a couple of big differences.
“Our goal is really simple: Win the SWAC West, we are going to host the SWAC Championship Game,” Jackson said. “That is probably a bigger deal now more than ever. We want to host it, we want to win it, and we want to give ourselves to Atlanta and come out of there as a winner.
“I didn’t do a very good job of saying we need to win in Atlanta. I said, `We’ve got to get there.’ I didn’t say we have to win there. So the gotta get there took off. Now it’s, we gotta win there.”
This spring has been about preparing to take it to the next level. Jackson is quick to let you know how much better off the program is now than it was a year ago, when he started spring practices with 62 players, and half of the players quit before the allotted 15 practices were exhausted.
Now Jackson has more players who fit what he is looking for, and he feels good about the progress that will be made between now and the start of fall camp in August. And with the NCAA closing the spring transfer portal window, it’s also not as likely to see players moving on after spring practices are over.
“If you can do what we tell you to do on a daily basis, you can’t play for us. And it doesn’t mean that you can’t play. You just can’t play here. These guys, they are still here because they can play here because they adhere to the values of our program.”
Tremaine Jackson, Prairie View A&M Head Coach
“This year is more direct. Last year, it was more people not wanting to be here for real, not ready to play for us,” said running back Chase Bingmon, who led the Panthers in rushing last season with 873 yards and eight touchdowns on 160 carries. “So this year, it’s more we’ve recruited our guys to play for us.”
In addition to more committed players, the Panthers also have more bodies to work with along the offensive and defensive lines, as well as more depth at defensive back and wide receiver. The increased numbers and depth have allowed Jackson to shift their practice structure toward more 11-on-11 time without fear of losing depth due to injuries.
“That’s really valuable to these guys,” said Jackson, whose most significant loss to the transfer portal this offseason was leading receiver Iyzaiah Rockwell, who left for Sam Houston State after catching 74 passes for 1,161 yards and eight touchdowns for the Panthers last season. “Everybody looks good in shorts, tagging off of you. But somebody has got to get hit. So we have a lot of time in order to see that.”
The most burning question is what is the plan to replace Cam Peters, who ran out of eligibility at the end of last season. Jackson said he likes the group he has to work with this spring.
Tevin Carter, who started a few games last season and played in others, is back, along with Tyler Nelson. And the staff has brought in a couple of new quarterbacks via the transfer portal, including Dez Thomas from Georgetown and Jaylen Pettway, who played for Jackson and his staff at Valdosta State and is familiar with the system and expectations.
“We don’t need Tom Brady. We need somebody who is going to be a point guard and is going to distribute the ball and not turn it over and make good decisions,” said Jackson, who was named SWAC Coach of Year after his first season at the helm. “The earlier we can know, the better. But we are not going to make a hasty decision just to hurry up and make a decision.”
But don’t expect Jackson to elaborate much on who is winning the quarterback competition or what the QB depth chart might look like going into the fall. What he is more than willing to talk about is the recent trip he and the staff, along with athletic director Anton Goff, took to Boulder, Colorado, to spend time with Deion Sanders and his staff.
They talked a lot about football, but Sanders, who coached a few seasons at Jackson State, also gave Jackson and his travel party some insight into the business of football, especially at the HBCU level.
Jackson was appreciative of the time and knowledge Sanders shared.
“There is nobody in the country on any level, at any program that’s doing business in ball like they are doing business in ball at Colorado,” Jackson said. “The amount of outside resources that they can command is phenomenal.
“So Coach was really gracious to put us in touch with some people. There are all kinds of revenue forms now in college football. We are looking for a jersey patch sponsor, we are looking for people to put their name on the field, and we are looking for a stadium naming rights deal.
“There is nobody better to go see and to go build relationships with than Coach Prime. Going out there, we were able to see how they do it, we were able to learn on the football side and the business side.”
