Black Players Discover Another Option : College football: Schools such as Howard and Southern are getting quality athletes.

There was a time when black college football programs had easy pickings when it came to finding talented players.

Their programs were stocked with student-athletes who had been passed over by major football schools--many of them in the South--because blacks were either not allowed or the schools had reached the nonwhite quotas observed by some teams.

With their college options limited, many black players chose the highly competitive Division I-AA black colleges, which produced such NFL Hall of Fame players as Willie Lanier, Roosevelt Brown, Gene Upshaw and Willie Davis.

Then, in the mid-70s, things changed. Many Division I-A schools not only began to play black athletes but they recruited them. Soon, the abundance of talent the black colleges had so long enjoyed was going to the major football powers.

Critics began questioning whether there were enough quality players left for the black schools.

But after several down years, black college football apparently has made a strong comeback. Top recruits are still signing with Division I-A schools, but more quality players are deciding to attend black colleges. Interest also has been rekindled off the field, and nearly 70,000 fans are expected to attend the second annual Los Angeles Football Classic between Southern of Baton Rouge, La., and Howard of Washington, D.C., 2 p.m. Sunday at the Coliseum.

“We are now starting to get kids who were recruited by all the majors,” Southern Coach Gerald Kimble said. “They come to us because they are not impressed with all the glitter and glamour. They want to go to a school for other reasons.”

Kimble, who finished 6-4-1 in his first season at Southern last year, played quarterback for the Jaguars from 1960-63. He has seen the changes black college football has endured over the years.

“Years ago, recruiting was so much easier,” said Kimble, who was an assistant at Southern from 1971-78. “We always had a good shot at the enormous amount of talent in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. But then things changed. The hot commodity in athletics is the black athlete. Now, there’s basically a 60% ratio of black to white players at all the major powers.”

To compete against Division I-A schools, black colleges have had to become more assertive in the recruiting battle. Despite having fewer scholarships to offer--70 compared to 90 for Division I-A schools--and tougher NCAA academic entrance standards, which has cut down the number of recruits available, the quality of the programs is up.

Several black schools were ranked last year in the national Division I-AA poll and Grambling State of Louisiana is regarded as one of the top teams this season. Also in recent years, black colleges have turned out several standout professional players, from Jerry Rice and John Taylor of the San Francisco 49ers to Darrell Green of the Washington Redskins.

“With the tougher academic rules, it is even harder to recruit because all the schools are after the same kids we’re recruiting,” Kimble said. “We only get two or three out of 30 blue-chips, but, we don’t have a hands-off policy in recruiting.

“Lately, I’ve noticed that black kids from families which are accomplished educationally and financially are coming back to the black colleges. (Black families) are realizing that you do not have to send a kid to Harvard to get a good education, that black colleges do have something to offer.”

In Sunday’s game, there will be several players on the field who were considered blue-chip prospects coming out of high school. They include Southern quarterback Nathaniel Harrison and wide receiver Michael Green, and Howard linebacker Kenneth Newsome.

Like Kimble, Steve Wilson, Howard’s second-year coach, is a product of black college football. Wilson, who spent 10 seasons in the NFL playing for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos, played for Howard from 1975-78 as a wide receiver.

Wilson, 33, the son of former NFL star Touchdown Tommy Wilson, began coaching at Howard shortly after ending his career with the Broncos two years ago. Despite his lack of coaching experience, he led the Bisons to an 8-3 record last season and already has made his mark.

Wilson is one of the new breed who have joined such legendary coaches as Grambling’s Eddie Robinson in making black college football more alluring to recruits. Wilson, who played in two Super Bowls, has surrounded himself with a staff that has a ton of NFL playing experience--Rubin Carter, Jeremiah Castille and Fred Dean.

“(Black colleges) have had to work harder because of the changes,” said Wilson, who chose Howard over several Atlantic Coast Conference schools when he was coming out of high school. “Whether you agree or disagree, everyone has had to adjust to stay in conformity. It is tougher now because there is a lot more competition where the dollars are greater and the pressure brought on by the schools to win at any cost.

“What I try to get across to recruits who are considering the bigger Division I schools, is that you can’t take those things with you--the big 70,000-seat stadiums and the television exposure six or seven times a year. The pile is a lot smaller but if you go about it systematically, you can overcome a lot of things.”

In combatting the dwindling pool of recruits, Wilson and Kimble draw no color lines.

“We recruit white athletes but, realistically, we just don’t get them unless they have some kind of problem where they couldn’t get into another school,” Kimble said. “What we end up getting is a kid who might not be for everybody but he fits our needs, like a deep snapping specialist or a kicker. Even though we try to recruit everyone, it is definitely a reverse minority situation.”

Football Classic Notes

In the first Los Angeles Classic last season, Grambling defeated Alcorn State of Mississippi, 35-30, in front of 33,722. . . . Both the Howard and Southern teams will arrive in Los Angeles Friday. . . . Proceeds from Sunday’s game will go toward funding scholarships for students who wish to attend black colleges.