2009
Steve McNair’s death
McNair was killed in Nashville on July 4, 2009, at age 36, a loss the program and the McNair family (including his brother and later Alcorn head coach Fred McNair) still carry.
Wound
Program outlook
Program outlook
Alcorn State University was founded in 1871 as the first Black land-grant college in the United States, and its football program built a national reputation almost entirely on its own terms.
Since Jul 23: L 59-63 at Grambling; W 63-7 vs Arkansas Baptist College; L 38-41 at Prairie View A&M; W 52-17 at Mississippi Valley State. 5-4 this season.
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A few years after Casem's tenure ended, Alcorn produced its most famous player. Steve McNair played quarterback for the Braves from 1991 to 1994, finishing as the FCS's all-time leader in total offense (16,823 yards) and Alcorn's career leader in passing yards (14,496) and touchdowns (119). McNair went third overall in the 1995 NFL Draft, was named co-NFL MVP in 2003, and reached one Super Bowl (a loss, Super Bowl XXXIV, to the Rams). He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2020, the first Brave so honored, and was killed in Nashville in 2009 at age 36.
Cedric Thomas has led the program since 2024 and is 11-12 through two seasons, including a 5-7, 4-4 SWAC finish in 2025 that ended with a 21-27 loss to Jackson State in the Soul Bowl — the two schools' rivalry game dating to 1927.
Combined with the Casem and McNair legacies, it gives the program a cultural footprint well beyond its current standing in the SWAC.
Program identity
The current program under Cedric Thomas is rebuilding against that history, not starting from nothing.
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
Moment of the year · 2026
Won 56-7 vs Miles
Week 1 of 2026. A statement win, by 49 points.
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Conference
SWAC standing · 2026
2nd in the SWAC
Alcorn State is 2nd in the SWAC at 3-2. One team above — that's the direct path to the title game.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama A&M | 4-1 |
| 2 | Alcorn State | 3-2 |
| 3 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 3-2 |
| 4 | Bethune-Cookman | 3-2 |
| 5 | Jackson State | 3-2 |
| 6 | Prairie View A&M | 3-2 |
| 7 | Alabama State | 3-3 |
| 8 | Grambling | 2-3 |
| 9 | Mississippi Valley State | 2-3 |
| 10 | Texas Southern | 2-3 |
| 11 | Southern | 2-4 |
| 12 | Florida A&M | 1-4 |
Gameday customs
Rituals
Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.
The Soul Bowl
since 1927
more
The rivalry game between Mississippi's two largest HBCUs, first played in 1927 (Alcorn A&M won 25-12). Known unofficially as the Soul Bowl since the late 1970s, the game was branded the Capital City Classic from 1993-2011 while hosted annually in Jackson, and has alternated between Jackson and Lorman since 2012.
The Golden Girls & Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite
since 1968
more
Founded in July 1968, Alcorn's Golden Girls were the first dance line in the country to perform choreographed routines set to a live marching band, debuting that fall at the Orange Blossom Classic in Miami. They perform alongside the Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite marching band at every home game — a signature piece of Alcorn's HBCU game-day identity.
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