Stats Perform is bringing a greater spotlight to athletes, students and stories at Historically Black Colleges and Universities through a partnership with Urban Edge Network. Included in the 2024 college football season are both HBCU FCS Player and Team of the Week awards and a season-ending HBCU FCS National Player of the Year Award, each presented by HBCU+.
“Well, first, towards the high expectation, I’ve always had that for myself. So this is no pressure, I’ve always kinda held myself to a high standard anyway. I’ve always believed in myself and knew the things that I could accomplish. And now it’s just coming to life right now.”
Confidence has never been an issue for Myles Crawley, even dating back to his senior year in high school.
He transferred to Tucker High School, which has a well-known and highly respected football program in Atlanta, from Arabia Mountain High School, located in a neighboring county in Georgia. The Lithonia, Ga., native walked into his new program and was an immediate leader before starring for the team particularly as a junior and senior.
The experience playing for the Tigers started him on a journey that finds him six years later as the starting quarterback for the Grambling State University Tigers, named the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s preseason offensive player of the year and garnering national recognition, including making the Walter Payton Award and HBCU+ FCS Player of the Year Award preseason watch lists.
One of the more fascinating footnotes about Crawley’s journey is that he has not enjoyed the benefits of coaching stability. He’s experienced a different head coach in nearly every year of his collegiate career, which began in the SWAC in 2020, but at Alabama State University, which went through several changes atop its program.
That instability usually results in players never having a breakout season like Crawley did last year, when after he made a transfer to Grambling State, he threw for 2,303 yards and 16 touchdowns, ranking No. 2 in the conference in both statistics. The Tigers offense improved to a No. 2 ranking in the SWAC after being No. 10 out of 12 teams a season earlier.
But Myles Crawley will once again experience a new coaching staff in the 2024 season as head coach Mickey Joseph has taken over for Hue Jackson, who was dismissed at Grambling State after last season. Crawley, though, gives a lot of credit for his development to Jackson.
“You can just tell that Coach is a league guy,” Crawley said. “He is going to hold you to a high standard, and just because you are in college, he is not going to short-change you on the terminology. If this is where you are trying to go, why not learn it now so you are prepared for the next level.”
Crawley’s high school experience not only gave him the ability to adjust to a different coaching staffs, but also how to persevere in the face of adversity. His senior year was also the beginning of the pandemic, so he finished classes online and went into the summer during a time of uncertainty in the world.
A short time after graduation, Quarius Smith Jr., a good friend of Crawley’s and the starting running back on the Tucker High team, was killed at a park. It sent shockwaves through the community and the football team.
“It was real painful for me at the time. That was one of my biggest losses I’ve had in my life with a guy that was real close to me like that – I looked at him like a brother. He was with me everywhere.” Crawley said, with a photo of Smith still on his wall. “We all had the same dreams, aspirations and stuff like that, so I just put more weight on my shoulders to go get this for him.”
Crawley’s level of dedication meant that after three seasons at Alabama State, where the 6-foot-3, 215-pound signal caller seemed to be trending upward, he entered the NCAA transfer portal, and moved on to Grambling State.
Jackson, GSU’s coach at the time, has an extensive career in the NFL and knows what it takes to make it to the highest level of football, so Crawley felt the Louisiana school represented his best opportunity to make his dream of playing in the NFL a reality.
“I just felt like it was the best decision for me,” Crawley said, “for where I was trying to go as far as the next level. I still love and respect those coaches over there at Alabama State, but I just felt like at that time it wasn’t the best decision for me to stay there. It’s probably one of the best decisions of my life coming to work with Coach Jackson.”
Pressure and expectations have never been too much for the fifth-year senior. Even amid the hectic nature of the college football preseason, Crawley can reflect on and appreciate going through the HBCU experience.
As a legacy, he’s been locked in with the climate throughout his life.
“It’s been great, man. I tell them there’s nothing like the HBCU experience,” Crawley said. “My dad (Marvin Crawley) went here to Grambling. So I kinda grew up in the HBCU culture. So I always loved it growing up. You know I had other offers to go other places, but I just didn’t feel right leaving HBCU.
“HBCUs always felt like home.”
Now Myles Crawley will have the opportunity to finish his homestand in Atlanta, where it all started for him, if he’s able to lead the Tigers to a SWAC football championship and a spot in the season-ending Celebration Bowl on Dec. 14.
Full interview with Grambling State QB Myles Crawley, detailing even more of his journey.
For more SWAC football coverage, here’s our 2024 season preview. Follow all of our FCS football coverage, including on X, Facebook and Instagram.