Talk about the journey you guys took to get here. What’s the difference you guys notice under Coach Scott’s leadership?
Anim Dankwah: “Me and Q (Quinton) came in as freshman under coach Prince. Going through that COVID season prepared us and turned us into men. I’m grateful for Coach Scott taking the opportunity to come to Howard and working with us. That COVID season is really where all this started.”
Quinton Williams: “Doing an entire season virtually was a different challenge we all had to face together. We really bonded as a team over that as well. Ever since then we really hit the ground running. Coach Scott had a vision that he brought to us and as a group and a collective, we brought that to life. It’s been a day-to-day process that we’ve embraced up until this moment and we look forward to the opportunity ahead of us.”
Kenny Gallop: “When I got here it was Coach Scott’s first year as well. He came in confidently and believed in us when nobody else really believed in Howard football. We believed this before it really happened. Last year, we were co-champions and we knew in January that we had what it takes to be here today.”
Q: You guys faced FAMU back in 2019 in Tallahassee. With FAMU coming from the MEAC, they’re familiar to you. Just talk about your experience then and what you’re expecting out of them.
A: Quinton Williams: Back in 2019, we played FAMU in Tallahassee, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to play due to injury, but I was there. I felt the atmosphere of the game and how big the game was. You know, they had a lot of big-time time guys on their roster. Some guys that play in the league now, like Marquis Bell who I watch on Sundays and making big plays. But at the end of the day, you know, it’s another football game for us. We prepare the same way. We go to the drawing board, make a great game for offense, defense, and special teams, and then we look forward to the opportunity we have coming tomorrow.
Q: So this is the first time Howard made the celebration bowl, what does this mean to you guys? And what would a win mean for you guys too?
Kenny Gallop: It means everything. Just to say we made history as the first Howard football team to play in the celebration bowl, but it’ll mean a lot more if we win.
Quinton Williams: Yeah, I will say, it’s a very proud moment for us as a team, and a university. I think, you know, we’ve had a lot of support from our supporters, alumni, faculty, and even the students on campus.
But, you know, it would mean a lot more to us and them if we do what we’re supposed to do and win this game.
Anim Dankwah: Well, being here means a lot. It’s all a testament to all the work we put in since we’ve been here. For us, we know we belong. So we know all the work we did through the summers, the colder seasons, the morning workouts, all of that.
So it’s paying off and as Kenny said earlier, we did a virtual season. So we had all envisioned this. We already positioned ourselves being here like we have dreamt about it.
So now that we’re here, it’s a special moment for us.
Q: Again, guys coming into the middle of the season, North Carolina Central was number one, you know, in everybody’s book and you all put quite a spanking on the reigning national champion. What went into that game? Was there a revenge factor?
Amin Dankwah: For us, we just knew what we had to do. The year before that we were co-champions. We split with Central and that left a bitter taste in our mouth. So when we came this year, the goal was to win out in the MEAC and put ourselves in a position to be here.
Quinton Williams: I think just living in the moment, you know we didn’t have a great game the week before where we didn’t perform to our standard. We kind of had a real conversation with ourselves and the team and we understood that everything we wanted was right in front of us. So just leading up to that game, it was a great game plan on both sides of the ball. It was one of our better nights where we played a 60-minute game.
Kenny Gallop: Like Q (Quinton) said, that’s the standard of the team. We felt like if we played our best then nobody could compete with us. We took a tough loss to South Carolina State and Coach Scott told us that the MEAC Championship had to come through DC.
Coach Larry Scott
Q: Coach, talk about the journey to get here. What’s it taken to get this program powered to the top of the MEAC over the three years that you’ve been there?
Larry Scott: It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s been fun, it’s been fulfilling. When you pick a profession, you get up every day and do something that you love to do. It’s not a job, you know, it’s something that I truly feel blessed to have an opportunity to do. Howard is a special place and you get a chance to come into contact with some special young people that have big-picture views of what it means to be a complete student-athlete.
Q: How important is the celebration bowl victory to recruiting with the scope of the transfer portal?
Larry Scott: So at the end of the day, you’re taking a great brand like Howard that’s partnered with Jordan, that’s playing the biggest game you can, the biggest stage you can be on. Obviously, it will speak volumes during the recruiting process. So it’ll increase the opportunities that we have to attract student-athletes who will excel both in the classroom and on the field. So all of it means everything, you know, and we wanna be elite at what we do. That’s the standard and Howard has high standards of who you are and not only who you are right now, but the person you become.
Q: Howard has an amazing history of alumni. Just standing right next to you tomorrow could be anybody. Obviously, the Vice president of the United States has expressed her intentions of being here and you have a great alumni base here in Atlanta. How do you keep the team as well as your coaches focused on the game?
Larry Scott: First of all, you have to embrace that part. And when I got here, I wanted to build our identity around embracing who we are. That’s why the first initial in “STDMT” is smart. You’re around some of the brightest minds, day in and day out at Howard. Those things aren’t distractions. That’s now a part of your scope. Now, that’s a part of who you are in the circles that you are networking, embrace that part of who you are.
