Coach Flowers speaking at the press conference for the Essence Classic.
BOSTON, Mass./Aug. 28, 2025 – Johnson C. Smith University football is preparing for a history-making moment this weekend when the Golden Bulls face Morehouse College at Harvard University in the first-ever Essence Classic featuring two HBCUs on August 30, 2025.
Dr. Valerie Kinloch, JCSU's 15th President, sets the table for what's to come. "What you will see of our football program is nothing short of excellence," she said. This is a pinnacle moment for JCSU.
JCSU's Head Football Coach Maurice Flowers said the matchup is about more than football. “It’s history. Being a part of history. To be the first HBCU game played at this venue, on national television—we don’t take it lightly,” Flowers said. “We have an opportunity to show the best of Johnson C. Smith University.”
Flowers said the team is motivated not only by the spotlight but also by unfinished business. “We want to grow from 8–2. So what’s left to grow? Let’s go to the championship game. Let’s put ourselves in position to win it. Let’s go to the playoffs,” he said while contemplating the season ahead.
With an eye on the history-making matchup this weekend, Coach Flowers praised Morehouse’s new direction under head coach Terrence Mathis, a former NFL standout. “Their record last year means nothing,” Flowers said. “You often see the biggest growth in a program from year one to year two. We know this Morehouse team will be much different than the one we faced last year. They’re fast, they’re strong, and we know our work is cut out for us.”
President Kinloch underscores the balance JCSU Football strikes between athleticism and scholarship. “Football is really significant. Academics is really significant. Our football players understand that they are scholar-athletes, so there is no athletics without academics,”
Coach Flowers concurs. “Our players are proud of the GPAs they have, proud of their university, and proud of the work they’ve put in,” he said. “You go to college to earn a degree, and now we get to showcase that at one of the most historic academic institutions in the world—Harvard University.”
Flowers' Golden Bulls are scholar-athletes with a cumulative 3.1 grade point average. They are mounting the national stage as role models and competitors on and off the field. They are joined in Boston by the International Institution of Sound Marching Band and an enthusiastic gaggle of alumni and fans!
Kickoff for the JCSU–Morehouse matchup is set for Saturday, August 30, 2025, at Harvard Stadium in Boston. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN+ as part of the inaugural Essence HBCU Classic.
