The Truth According to Coach Tremaine Jackson: Celebration Bowl, SWAC TV vs. ESPN, and THSCA Snubs Prairie View A&M

HOUSTON, Texas – Tremaine Jackson isn’t focused on the preseason hype. After guiding Prairie View A&M to its first SWAC title since 2009 and a Celebration Bowl appearance, the Panthers coach spent the summer reminding everyone that those achievements don’t matter yet. “We don’t get involved in the pre-, we only care about the post-,” Jackson told HBCU Legends.

That posture has shaped Jackson’s time on The Hill. Focused on the work in front of him, blunt about what it will take and unafraid to say so, Jackson enters his second fall camp at Prairie View sounding like a coach who buried a championship season on purpose. Every Jan. 1, he said, the program throws out what it was. “Just because you were doesn’t mean you are,” Jackson said.

Accountability as Head Coach

Starting over is very real this year. Prairie View was up 21-0 at halftime against South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl last December, but lost 40-38 after four overtimes. Jackson didn’t sugarcoat it. “It was a rough feeling for me,” he said. He had felt the same way the year before, after losing a Division II national title game at Valdosta State.

But Jackson didn’t blame anyone else. He said the Panthers had a chance to win in overtime with a short field goal but missed it, and he took responsibility for how the week went. “It’s all my fault,” he said. That experience turned into a lesson. “As we tell our players, what men do is men figure out what happened,” Jackson said. “They go about figuring out ways to correct the issue, and then they press forward and don’t look back.”

PV: Finish the Fight

Jackson calls this approach Finish the Fight, inspired by Acts 20:24. “My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task that God gave me,” he said. He’s bringing that mindset into a tough season opener on the road against top-five FCS team Tarleton State. “I don’t care if we play on Pluto, Mars, or Venus,” he said.

Jackson sees the opener as a real test, just the way he likes it. “To be an elite FCS program you have to play elite people,” he said. When asked at SWAC Media Day if tough scheduling could hurt his roster, he dismissed the idea and challenged HBCU programs to aim higher. “I’m not talking about doing a lot with a little,” Jackson said. “I’m talking about doing a lot with a lot.” He added, “We have to stop thinking that this is 1950, where the Negro doesn’t have any options.”

Said what he said

Jackson’s honesty was especially clear this summer when he publicly criticized the Texas High School Coaches Association. After their coaching school, he posted a video saying Prairie View’s staff was overlooked as clinic speakers, even after their strong season.

He complimented the event but criticized how speakers were chosen. Jackson pointed out that schools with weaker 2025 résumés had assistants invited, while Prairie View, the only Texas team to play for a national title, was left out. “I felt slapped in the face by an association that has done some really good things and is the premier association in the country,” Jackson said.

Jackson backed up his claims. He said he’s paid THSCA dues since 2006, bought memberships for his whole staff when he arrived, and nominated his coaches through the association’s speaker portal. He didn’t hold back when talking about the coaches who did present.

“You gave them outdated milk,” Jackson said. He was careful to keep himself out of it. “I have no desire to speak at clinics,” he said. “But I do have a desire for my coaches to be able to present the knowledge that they have.” The association had not responded publicly as of this interview, and HBCU Legends’ request for comment was not returned.

The Truth is Jackson’s Policy

The willingness to say the quiet part out loud is deliberate. “I’m not a liar, and a lot of people get in this seat [coaches] and get trained to be liars,” Jackson said. “I’m going to tell you the truth. You might not like what I say, but I’m going to tell you the truth.”

Jackson’s straightforward approach also influenced his first year in charge. He pushed the administration to raise assistant coaches’ pay, helping keep coordinators and position coaches who had followed him from Colorado Mesa. “People will leave you with the quickness if they don’t feel appreciated,” he said.

He lost his offensive line coach to Valdosta State and his receivers coach to Missouri State, but then promoted from within and hired Manny Martinez, a line coach he won a championship with 15 years ago at Texas Southern. “Even though we lost good coaches, we got better,” Jackson said.

He used the same reasoning when arguing for the Labor Day Classic against Texas Southern to be shown on ESPN instead of the league’s SWAC TV app: It’s about reaching fans now and attracting recruits in the future.

Jackson compared SWAC TV to early Netflix, saying it’s a good product that hasn’t caught on yet. “Prairie View A&M is a nationwide product,” he said. He also pointed out that the 11 a.m. Sunday kickoff on Sept. 6 isn’t just about TV. It matches the noon Eastern start of the Celebration Bowl, giving the team another chance to prepare for the big stage he wants to reach.

Jackson’s honesty again goes beyond football. When asked about men’s health, he was just as direct. “Just like we check our bank accounts to see what we got, you better check your body to see what you got,” he said. On the topic of HBCU respect, he challenged HBCUs to take the lead. “We have to stop acting like we’re second and third rate,” Jackson said. “We do that to ourselves so much.”

The real test comes early for the Panthers as they open the season on the road against a top-five team, then host Texas Southern in a game on Sunday, Sept. 6 that could decide the division. Jackson wants to know where his team stands before the fourth quarter. “I don’t have too many nail biters left in me,” he said.

The fight he’s been talking about starts as fall camp opens next week on The Hill.

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