T.C. Taylor opened his remarks at SWAC Football Media Day in Birmingham the way you’d expect from a coach who hasn’t slept great since December — by bringing up the loss. Jackson State fell 23-21 to Prairie View A&M in last year’s SWAC Championship Game, one possession short of a trip to the Celebration Bowl, and Taylor made clear that number is still living rent-free in his head.
“We were right there last year,” Taylor said. “Two points away from getting there last year. Winning a back-to-back SWAC title, and it’s no different this year.”
That’s the posture Jackson State walks into 2026 with — a program that went 9-3, won the SWAC East, and still considers the season a near-miss. The Tigers enter as one of the conference’s most talked-about teams again, this time with a full offseason built around replacing the pieces they lost to graduation and the transfer portal.
The biggest storyline out of Birmingham might be the one at quarterback. Jared Lockhart, who stepped into the starting job in 2025 after JaCobian Morgan went down with an injury, is no longer a fill-in — he’s the guy, full-time, and he was voted preseason All-SWAC for his trouble.
Lockhart credited Taylor for pushing him toward that role rather than just handing it to him.
“He preaches on me being a leader — getting my body healthy, knowing the plays, knowing the progressions,” Lockhart said.
Taylor’s message throughout Media Day was that the turnover at other spots on the roster hasn’t shaken his confidence in the group he’s built.
“We felt like we did a great job of bringing in some guys to replace a lot of talent that we lost last year,” Taylor said. “Those guys that we brought in have stepped in and they are really talented.”
A Defense With Teeth Already
While Lockhart headlines the offensive side, Jackson State isn’t short on established names elsewhere. Defensive back Kam Sallis enters the year as the SWAC’s preseason Defensive Player of the Year, and FCS All-America offensive lineman Quaveon Davis anchors a line that should keep the pressure off Lockhart as he grows into the full-time role.
Between Sallis, Davis, and Lockhart, JSU has as much preseason hardware sitting in one locker room as anybody in the conference — which is exactly why the SWAC East, once again, appears to run through Jackson.
Answering the Schedule Critics
Not everything out of the Tigers’ camp this offseason has been about Xs and Os. Taylor also found himself defending JSU’s 2026 nonconference schedule after HBCU fans pushed back on the lack of FCS opponents outside the HBCU ranks — a real concern given the SWAC and MEAC still don’t get an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
Taylor wasn’t having it. Speaking on KC-1400 Media with Ken Clark, he made his priorities plain: nothing on the schedule matters more than what gets Jackson State back to Atlanta.
“All the opponents that are on there that matter for us to get to the Celebration Bowl, to win the East, to get to the SWAC Championship, they’re on there,” Taylor said.
The season opener will also renew a historic rivalry between two proud HBCU programs. Tennessee State holds a 30–23–2 advantage in the all-time series, while Jackson State won the most recent meeting 16–3 in 2022.
The August 29 matchup will be the first time Jackson State and Tennessee State have faced one another in the John A. Merritt Classic.
Opening the season away from home will provide an immediate test for the Tigers. Jackson State must handle the emotions of opening night, communicate in a challenging environment and remain composed against a Tennessee State team looking to make its own statement in Nashville.