Daniel Richardson Named FAMU Starting QB| Morgan State Officially Enters the Tahj Smith Era

four days away from the season and fam users Nam their starting quarterback no surprise here is Daniel Richardson oh yeah it's locked on HBC you play my music you are locked on HBCU your daily podcast covering HBCU Sports part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what's going on family welcome back to another episode of the locked on HBCU podcast your number one daily onstop shop for everything HBCU Athletics Monday through Friday part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and I of course I am Darien gray aka the mouth of the South Texas Southern Alum and former TSU heral sports editor and current contributing writer at USA Today Saints wire thank you for going on this Journey with me making locked on HBCU your first listen of the day every day and remember just because the mic cuts off does not mean that the journey is over just means it's time to follow me on Twitter at South exclusives starts with an S and ends with an s today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel and now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three- week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket via YouTube or YouTube TV visit fanduel.com locked on to get started we'll wrap up today's episode and I like this one we wrap up today's episode with a step into the todge Smith era yes Morgan State has officially named Todd Smith as their starting quarterback prior to that Teddy Keaton has the most interesting form of motivation that I've seen in a long time he told everybody do not list his team as a top five squad on the division two ranks this was very interesting but I love the form of motivation now we kick off today's episode with something a little bit different than we thought we would and I'm happy about that because I wanted to kick off every single episode this week with something FAMU or Northfolk State related and I think with FAMU naming their quarterback the starting quarterback for the season at least for the mwac challenge I think that I have five opening segments of the two teams who are facing off which are of course the llers and the Spartans now me I do I just did in my head I definitely have enough so we'll do Northfolk being under the radar on tomorrow's episode but today I want to look at fam you breaking the news on Monday evening that they will be starting Daniel richardon against the North Folk State Spartans this is exactly what I expected um and I know there's a lot of I expect it I expect it I expect it and I don't really say this to be a know-it-all I don't say this to Pat my back or anything just that's what I saw and this is is where I thought that it would go and I'm going to go back about four months throughout the duration of this segment and look at some old quotes that made me feel like Daniel Richardson was always the leading quarterback in this and I wouldn't say it's his to lose but I think it quickly became his race to lose it wasn't that way from the beginning though um it was reported that FAMU may make a decision by HBCU game day earlier on Monday uh Monday morning I seen they may make the decision as early as this evening and then what you know lo and behold Monday evening rolls around family puts up a post on social media saying that Daniel Richardson D rich is their starting quarterback let's reflect now let's take this back to April the four months ago that I was talking about there was an article that I read was probably by Gerald Thomas G does a phenomenal work uh the Geralds in the HBCU space are killing It Gerald Huggins my guy got his dream job at Morgan State so show him some love right y'all go tweet him if y'all haven't already coach Huggins I I that's for the second but um and you also had Gerald Thomas the writer at the Tallahassee Democrat who he's been on the show before he's killing it and we're going to do another segment based off of one of his articles somewhere down the line this week either tomorrow or Thursday we're going to do another article or another segment based off of his article but I think that this was something that he wrote in April and the feeling I got from it was that it was a two-man race for who's going to be the starting quarterback now let's be very clear what happens in the spring and what happens in the fall is not exactly directly connected you know there's a there's a summer session that can change a lot of things you have players who can come in and could transfer right like these battles specifically for quarterback they don't stop in the spring they carry on into the fall and when they carry on into the fall the person who you thought was winning that time could not be the winner at the end the two team race or the two-man race that I thought that it was between junior Mir mtic and then also Daniel Richardson you could have had another guy burst out of the scene out of nowhere but that's not what happened you end up having uh Daniel Richardson as the starter uh but anyway yeah I thought miric and Richardson was a two-man race for the quarterback battle I took that directly from my notes from I think it was like I think it was like April 11th I just looked at it earlier today um but as soon as I came to this conclusion because I did that after everything was said I would say shortly after I came to the conclusion that it is Daniel Richardson's job right like it wasn't immediate but a little bit after after thinking about everything I began to feel like Junior was only in the race because he was here already but Daniel Richardson was the one who was catching eyes sometimes when you have people who start at different levels you can trick yourself into thinking that the guy at the bottom is rising faster but the guy who's already up top he's just at a more difficult level right let's say you're on a a a game it's got 50 levels you start when your friends at level 20 you're catching him super fast cuz you're going through all the easy levels but he's getting kind of stuck on 21 he can't get past 23 for a little bit so now you begin to catch him but sometimes things you just haven't seen and quotes about players they haven't seen just sound a little bit more exciting so I wanted to be careful that I didn't just come on here and be tricked by that but I did have it in the back of my head I wasn't confident enough to say it though I will say that I wasn't confident enough to say it this is what Coach Henry had to say about the quarterbacks at that time he said Junior's been here for a while really settling into the offense and does a good job of taking charge he's starting to take the next step to be able to lead our football team D Rich has done a really good job learning quickly and has gotten a ton of snaps as an FBS starting quarterback I think it was that last part because you've been here for a while you taking charge like okay that's cool you're familiar if we're talking about being in Spring practice the these are all things that I expect you to do because you've been here for a while I expect you to take charge I expect you to know but then you have this other guy who he's learning really quickly this was me not trying to get tricked but that last part about being a starting quarterback I'll take starting experience over being a backup in the system right like that's just if I'm just looking at them on even scales I think being a starter weighs more than just being around in the system because I'm just going to trust a player who has starting experience to learn my system and that's what I heard right there is that he's done a really good job learning quickly you know um let's look at what James Coy said he talked about how people want him to make a decision how he's going to let it play out he went all the way until four days before I guess five because it was Monday at that time that he did it but less than a week before the first game I kind of thought he was gonna take it all the way down to the wire I expected and had I not seen this this tweet Monday morning I would have been preparing to say that FAMU was not going to name a starting quarterback I don't mind being wrong but I'm thankful that I wasn't I'm I was thankful that didn't have to say that I would have waited a couple of days but that's kind of what I felt like was going to happen they were just going to be very suspenseful um but here's another quote from Coy back then he said they're commanding the offense oh here we go that's the specific part I'd rather have a quarterback who threw one touchdown pass and no interceptions than the guy who threw two touchdown passes and two interceptions so it just makes me wonder how risky will Daniel Richardson be how many opportunities will he try to take I know that he's a quarterback who comes in with FBS starting um experience do you trust yourself to say I know I can fit it in through there or do you understand that Coy being a defensive minded coach is going to be more on the side of you gotta just play smart I trust my defense this how defensive coaches are I trust my defense I just need you to not mess it up for us it's simple I trust my defense you just need to not screw it up and sometimes you you you tell your quarterback just play it safe I saw that I felt like I saw that with jamus Winston in 2022 yes 20 no 2021 I feel like I saw that in 2021 with James Winston with the New Orleans Saints where he was very efficient but he was just trying not to make plays so I wonder what style of offense you'll see Daniel Richardson play this is the thing that excites me the most Daniel Richardson is quarterback one for FAMU they announced that but he also came over to the Rattlers with his former teammate acon Cobb now I want to if you have that initial chemistry with Cobb I can see cob being the leading receiver for this team because of that connection that they've already had that'll be very interesting to me because they both came over in the transfer portal together so when you have that little bit of chemistry it could then immediately show up on um on game one and we see this with quarterbacks where they operate with players you have chemistry with early and then you build chemistry with the other players I could see this being an instantaneous match because they've done that before and it could really pay off for the FAMU rapers now as we push forward I don't think people have problem especially FAMU fans and everybody like no one has problem with FAMU being listed as a top five team on the division one HBCU ranks but Teddy Keaton and Clark said listen do not whatever you do do not name us as a top five team one person did and Teddy Keaton has something to say about it hilarious motivation that will break down as we continue with lock on HBCU today's episode is brought to you by iata and I understand that you're probably trying your best to get those late summer vacations in it's not over yet you still got blistering heat I was looking at the temperature earlier 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or App Store and use the code locked on College as we continue rolling on today's episode of locked on HBCU I appreciate you for making this your first listen of the day every day for your second listen make sure you're checking out locked on college football because the sport is back and locked on college football podcast kicks off the action with A Live season premiere at 7 p.m. Eastern today August 20th now on the locked on college football 247 streaming YouTube channel this is a four-part series covering each of the four major conferences SEC ACC Big 10 Big 12 you already know it's no longer the power five because the Pack 12 is disappeared now all four teams or excuse me all four conferences have teams who have a shot at the expanded college football playoffs be sure to check out this special streaming on the lockon colleges 247 YouTube channel or Amazon Fire TV part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day now Clark Atlanta head coach Teddy Keaton does not want any parts of being considered a top five team this is is easily the most interesting and entertaining form of motivation that I've seen on the HBCU level in a long time let's remember who Clark is let's remember what Clark has achieved last year and in recent years in the 2023 season Clark won zero games they haven't been that good as of recent and I understand they brought in a new head coach Teddy Keaton he comes over from Allen he comes over with a little bit more success and there's reason to be optimistic about Clark I don't think Keaton really wants you to be optimistic though despite ending in 10th or excuse me being predicted to end in 10th place in the siac it's not like the motivation or the hype train is rolling but one person said yeah I think Clark's a fifth best team in all excuse me fourth best team in all of black college football on the D2 level Dr Caville said that the SI excuse me Dr Caville said that Clark Atlanta is a top five team on the division 2 HBCU ranks and Teddy Keaton said I don't care that the siia themselves said they were going to finish 10th I can't let a piece of positive propaganda about my team go out without me speaking on the matter and no it's not because he actually thinks his team isn't deserving of it no it's not because he doesn't want anybody to believe in the team it's a motivational tactic this is for the guys in the locker room of course but they just come out there after the siia polls themselves said that's the 10th best team in our conference I've seen couple miscellaneous posts I haven't heard great things about Clark or Great Expectations about Clark so when one person comes out and says this is a top five team best team in their conference you come out and said this is rat poison rat poison is the part that's really killing me because you're not getting a lot of great publicity and the one time that you do you come out and you take the picture you post it on your Twitter and in all caps you start off the statement with this is or EXC me yeah this is rat poison matter fact this is is even in all caps it's just rat poison and everything out there afterwards excuse me it's like Keaton saw this and was like how dare you he wants to make sure that every single person in that locker room is more focused on the failures and the people who are doubting them than any person who could believe them I exaggerate you not I genuinely believe that if they come in on Tuesday or they come in on Wednesday or they come in on th whenever they gotta come in it would not Shock me if every single Locker has the siia polls on it and not the one that says that Clark's gonna be number one not Dr Caville it's going to be the one that says the SI predicts that Clark Atlanta finishes 10th because I believe that you're looking at a motivational tactic from coach Keaton that says don't read your own press clippings or read this press clip that's the funniest thing about it it's because when coaches do this when coaches do this nine times out of 10 it's about the fact that everybody is praising you we want to make sure that you don't read your press clippings like these are multiple instances but in this one we found 10 nine times out of 10 is that this is the 10th time the time when only one person really says something good maybe I'm missing all the good positive stuff about about Clark um and this isn't to say that they can't be good it's just a fact that this is not the expectation for them immediately to snap back you get one press clip in don't read that press clipping oh my God this is amazing now let's give the reasons on why Dr Caville could believe this right because one thing I don't want to do or two things I don't want to do a diminish Clark Atlanta I don't want to do that because I'm just going based off of the things that have been said and I'm going based off of what you typically when you typically see these type of rhetorics preached it's not in this type of situation and the second thing I don't want to do is make it seem as if Dr Caville is just pulling something out of his butt or pulling something out of his neck no Dr gavil is the guy right like he doesn't just say things just to say things so you have to make sure that you I have to I have to make sure that it doesn't seem disrespectful that I'm saying he just how dare you say Clark no one else is saying that though I have seen limited people say it I understand the reason you believe in Clark to take a step up Clark comes in with a new coach Teddy Keaton I think we're familiar with him throughout this segment they come in with a new quarterback and that quarterback was the si uh offensive player of the year he was Dynamic you're looking at a quarterback who could Revitalize that program you're looking at a coach who brought in multiple players from his team if you're bringing in multiple players from your team it feels less like this is neither one is true but it feels less like you're starting at Mor House's spot at the end of last year and more like your closer to Allen spot at the end of last year you're in the middle so I don't want to make it seem like you're either one of the extremes you bring over players from a better team than you were within the same conference in a lot of them your your floor should raise right other unless you're just saying they're cursed but your floor should raise I don't think it's all the way Allen because you're not Allen right like you still have pieces that they have or they still have pieces at that school that you weren't able to grab but you're probably better off so I understand why Dr cavil could say hey I think they're going to be really good I think they're going to be much better you trust in the coach more you have a quarterback and that's all I really need that's all I need quarterback coach I can feel good with just that that's it nothing more um so I I get it man let's read this in general I mean in totality because this is hilarious to me he says and I quote this is rat poison don't believe the hype how does or how does Clark Atlanta rank in creating great practice habits great effort are we focused all two hours of practice are we focused in the meeting room that will tell our true ranking Dr Caville doesn't know any of those things like Dr Caville is not there for two hours of every practice he's not he can't tell you every single step of the way of how the practice habits and how the effort are maybe he's able to get to a few of the practices but he's not out there every single time that's why these are rhetorical questions these are not not statements and and questions for Dr Caville or for the fans these are statements and questions for the players and he's right he's right about how you find your true rankings even if he's just you know being Captain Obvious in it it's calling out to the team it's not about you and I it's not about Caville it's not about anybody else who's on social media I gave it a retweet because objectively me being called a top five team for probably the first time in this offseason and then calling it rat poison is one of the funniest things that I've seen in black college football at least this offse at least that's hilarious Clark is getting some positive propaganda and he said this is rat poison they're trying to kill you with the hype they're trying to kill you with the standards don't bite the belief inest the hate inest the disappointment inest the failure because that's what's going to Spur you to being great along with great practice habits along with Focus along with attention to detail like the these are the things that are going to to propel you into greatness but man when you talk about greatness that's a great air quotes rant rant by Teddy Keaton as we push forward the Tod Smith era is here Morgan State has named to Smith as their starting quarterback I know surprise surprise today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel and FanDuel is the official sports book of the locked on podcast Network football is here you can sing the Praises you can play all of your favorite music because after this week or not even after this week starting this week we will never have another weekend without football until February oh my God thank you um this is this is the best time ever and to make it even sweeter from now until September 22nd all FanDuel customers if you put down a $5 bet will get a thre week free trial with NFL Sunday Ticket through YouTube and YouTube TV this is amazing I've been using the ticket forever and ever and ever I want to watch every single game when I want to watch it right like that's me I want to watch the game when I was in college I was getting a little student discount that's neither here nor there make sure you go ahead and make some money at uh fanduel.com put some money down on week one week zero of college football action is here not only fam you versus Northfolk State you have Delaware State versus Hawaii let's get active on the HBCU front let's get active on the college football front FBS level all of that let's get active on the NFL and go ahead and go to fanduel.com to make every moment more that's wrapping up today's episode of lock on HBCU I appreciate you for making this your first listen of the day every day making it all the way to segment three and I thank you two times for that thank you thank you Morgan State has named Todd Smith as their number one quarterback and I don't think that this is a surprise RIS we all knew that the player who ended last year as Morgan State starting quarterback despite only playing a very few amount of games was going to be the quarterback coming into this season that that should have been an expectation I thought that he showed enough for me to um believe in him honestly the entire time that I talked about Morgan State I don't think I ever spoke about Todd Smith not having the job I talked about it like it was a finale already like it was just and it I think it was a inevitable action I I knew this was going to happen he he looked good at the end of last year in a season where nobody else really looked good he does have some things that he needs to step up and he's also just a true sophomore he played five games last year you're talking about a player who some were clamoring to hold him out to ensure that he would get a red shirt season because if you don't play a certain amount of games you can get a red shirt that's what we're talking about here we're talking about a player who has played that little amount of games and when you play that little amount of games you do I I do think you should still fight for your job so I'm not upset at the fact that Damon Wilson had Todd Smith fight for his job I'm not at all I know I've had some things to say about other QB battles around the country but in this case despite the fact that I did think he was a definite lock to be qb1 I think his age and his lack of experience made the idea of him competing I think it was smart iron sharpens iron for young player but then also makes him have to show consistency and makes him have to do it again after last season so definitely a smart move but for me I like him a lot I really do he was aggressive in the games that I saw I think it was the North Carolina Central game and H understand that they weren't able to come out Victorious but I love how aggressive he was going down the field and I also love how despite being aggressive going down the field it wasn't as if he was throwing a bunch of turnover man I I really do feel like he has the raw talent to be the guy I really do think that Todd Smith when you look at him has the raw talent to become a championship quarterback will it happen this year I don't know I don't know if it happens this year but what I can tell you is that he had five touchdowns three on the air two on the ground one interception he only had 85 yards there's things that he needs to work on he's still a f or excuse me now a sophomore but he was still a true freshman expecting him to be a finish product last year or judging him so harshly based off of last year's limited sample size and very very limited opportunity I would say I don't think that's fair I'm G to take the raw ability and expect him to expand that and also expand the production one thing that this does do is if Tosh Smith is the guy that I think he is that other people think he can be I think it though yeah if Tosh Smith is the guy that I think he is and other people think he will be he has the ability to be the only quarterback Young quarterback in the Mak who's a franchise quarterback what is that called on a Collegiate level I don't know yeah that's interesting that's really interesting if Todd Smith turns into a solid quarterback he'll be the only young guy who is a foundational piece in the Mak Central that'll be over soon you're looking at uh Howard um they still got to find their guy Northfolk state if it's Coons Coons is there after this if it's Jaylen Daniels I think he may have one more year of Eligibility I think he spent two maybe yeah two because he just came from the jco ranks so two years of Eligibility after this he'll have one Delaware State they'll have one with CJ Henry like you're going over this he'll be the only player with multiple years of Eligibility more likely than not and if he isn't he'll probably be the best if Todd Smith is what we think he can be this will be very interesting I can't wait I as you can tell I like Todd Smith I like Morgan State a lot I really do they're probably my favorite team in that conference if we're just not talking about to win it all but just favorite team because they have my two favorite players in the conference specifically Eric Hunter that's my guy Elijah Williams that's my guy I rock with them as individual players and I think that they have a super high ceiling so it's easy for me to fall with uh with Morgan State and they're also on the Interior right like they're in the front seven so it's a little bit different but anyway I think that the timing of all of this is a little bit important it means a little something I'm not going to overstate the importance of it but it's important and it tells me a little something in a in a day and age where everybody's trying to be gamesmen in a day and age where everybody's trying to hold off one thing I notice is that HBCU quarterback battles now let me not even do that I'm not even gonna typ cast them quarterback battles these days really do come down to the wire and I don't know if that's because they're actually tip battles or because people just want to see some want to see the opponent not know who the game plan for maybe it's a gamesmanship thing I think both are ideal they're interesting they possible but in general they didn't do that here a week two weeks before the season they say look this is who is gonna be game plan for him if you want to he was here for five games last year this is Tod Smith we're gonna go out there and we gonna win go Bears right like like that's that's what it feels like in a day and age when everybody else takes down to two days before uh the game day like I don't know who it's going to be you gonna have the game plan for Todd Smith you GNA game plan for Dominique Anthony you G have the game plan for Duce Taylor no it is the Todd Smith era as it should be Morgan State is looking to have the only young centerpiece act quarterback after this season in the entirety of the Mak I can't wait the Tod Smith era has begun now on tomorrow's episode we for sure will get to Northfolk State and the fact that they flown under the radar I think having two fan VI topics to open up the week really drives that point home nobody's really talking about Northfolk State it's all about FAMU and hello I'm guilty of that well until the next time that we hear each other family take care stay blessed peace