NCCU’s Davius Richard won’t look back. He’s looking ahead — a generation ahead
The press box at N.C. Central’s O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium casts a long shadow across the field after a late-afternoon August practice, and Davius Richard is savoring the shade. His work done for the day, he gestures to the two signs on the face of it, newly updated with last season’s success.
MEAC champions, 2022.
HBCU national champions, 2022.
Talk about casting a long shadow. It’s going to be very difficult for the Eagles to match last season, one that ended with a raucous Celebration Bowl win over previously undefeated Jackson State in Deion Sanders’ final game as coach there, a parade through the streets of Durham and a visit to the governor’s mansion. It’s going to be almost impossible to top all of that.
The same is true for Richard, the quarterback whose play made him one of 30 finalists for the Walter Payton Award, the FCS-level equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, and is one of 12 to return this season.
After last season, Richard could have gone just about anywhere. Bigger programs put out feelers and reached out through third parties, hoping to snag a veteran quarterback. He graduated in December, so he was entirely unencumbered. Putting his name in the transfer portal could have been worth tens of thousands of dollars, if not more.
“He had a whole lot of D-1s coming at him last year, and they offered him a whole lot of money,” NCCU coach Trei Oliver said. “We have a great relationship and everything, but we had one young man that left and went to Maryland for a lot of money. We try to recruit the whole team so we don’t lose guys. But I’m so happy and thankful he did stay, and a lot of young guys, they just see the dollar signs and can’t see the bigger picture. But you can come back here and rewrite some records and win some national championships and be the man. And he’s gotten some of that.”
Richard came back to live in that shadow. To outgrow it. He arrived from Florida four years ago as part of Oliver’s first recruiting class at NCCU, starting out as the fourth-string QB in practice. By Week 2, he was starting. He grew up with the coach and the program, from 4-8 to 6-5 to 10-2, losing a year to COVID in the middle but catching the eye of NFL scouts along the way. He’s in second place in NCCU’s record book in passing yards and touchdowns after setting single-season records for completions, completion percentage and total offense last season.
Richard was the MEAC’s offensive player of the year and the FCS scholar-athlete of the year. It’s a full resume, already.
But he looks up at those signs on the press box, and there’s still a lot of space left on them.
“I’ve felt like I was at home, always,” Richard said. “I’ve been here for a long time. My name is kind of in the record books. I just wanted to make sure that 20, 30 years down the line, when we come back for our reunion, I can show my kids how I came here and won a national championship. Show my kids, oh, open up the record book, that’s your dad right there.”
And so N.C. Central enters the season Saturday against Winston-Salem State with one of the top quarterbacks in FCS, completing an incredible Triangle foursome with UNC’s Drake Maye, N.C. State’s Brennan Armstrong and Duke’s Riley Leonard. A Philadelphia Eagles scout was at a recent practice to take a closer look at Richard and running back Latrell Collier and safety Khalil Baker, NCCU’s other draft prospects, the 16th scout of the month to show up on campus .
While Maye in particular is assured of his draft status and NFL future, no HBCU quarterback has been taken since 2006. Richard has prototypical size – 6-foot-3, 220 pounds – a strong arm, above-average mobility and an outstanding football IQ that allows him to improvise effectively both on the ground and through the air, with 25 passing TDs and 15 rushing TDs last season. Would his draft stock have improved at a bigger school, playing at a higher level? Perhaps, but that’s of no concern to Richard.
“All of that stuff, after the season, as far as the NFL and pro football, it’ll take care of itself,” he said.
In the end, he came back to N.C. Central to leave a mark. To build a legacy. To take what’s already been done and do it better. He’s going to get his MBA by the time he leaves. If pro football doesn’t work out, the quarterback wants to be an entrepreneur. He might start a business, or use his football connections to become a celebrity barber (he doesn’t make a big deal about it, but he cuts many of his teammates’ hair already).
Richard has plans beyond football. But that’s down the road, and just as the Eagles have to be careful not to look back this season, or too far ahead, Richard is always looking even farther ahead than that. He’s looking a generation ahead, thinking about bringing his kids back someday, to stand below that press box and see 2023 next to 2022 on those banners, maybe even to see his No. 11 up there with them.
He came back when he could have left, because he wants to stand so tall, he’ll cast a shadow over this field, forever.
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This story was originally published August 29, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "NCCU’s Davius Richard won’t look back. He’s looking ahead — a generation ahead."
