In college football, the big schools win and the small schools struggle.
That is a time-tested truism, exemplified by schools like Livingstone College in North Carolina. But other schools, like Langston University in Oklahoma, are seeing their struggles pay off. And Lane College in Tennessee is proving the exception to the rule.
Lane College shocked the Black college football universe with a stunning 9-1 season record in 1995, finishing second in the Sheridan Black College Football Poll.
With an enrollment of just 700 students, tiny Lane college, an NCAA Division II independent, had dominated teams in the bigger Division I-AA.
Early start
The seeds for Lane’s dramatic change were planted in 1993 when Dr. Wesley McClure became the school’s president. McClure is credited with masterminding the Dragons’ resurgence. The change became corn plete when McClure fired the athletic staff.
“When I came on board, the program was merely existing,” McClure said. “Our board of trustees gave me authority to give scholarships and to seek a higher level of competition than we had been playing. We hired a quality staff, raised the level of enthusiasm of alumni and supporters, and added some incentives for the players.”
