For Tennessee State's Kaiss, black colleges will always be home

There was the time Fred Kaiss was running down the sideline trying to root on a kick returner.

"I plow into a guy and it's Steve Urkel," the coach said.

TV nerds aren't the only celebs at his games. The Tennessee State offensive coordinator has glimpsed Evander Holyfield, Queen Latifah and Emmitt Smith.

"You go to those classics," Kaiss of the traditional black college rivalry games played each year, "and it's the world's largest fashion shows."

Fred Kaiss still hopes to be a head coach of a HBCU team. (Provided to CBSSports.com)

Fred Kaiss loves the atmosphere, the vibe, the people of historically black colleges. It has been his life, during 17 years as an assistant coach at Morgan State, Southern, Tennessee State and Hampton. Fred Kaiss is also white, which matters only because this is the only level where he wants to become a head coach. If it happens, Kaiss would become one of the few white head coaches in the history of black college football.

Fred Kaiss still hopes to be a head coach of a HBCU team. (Provided to CBSSports.com)

On this Thanksgiving, the possibility is both near and remote. His boss, James Webster Jr., resigned on Nov. 19 after a 4-7 season. That left vacant a job that Kaiss doesn't think he'll get. After 25 years as a coach, he knows which way the wind is blowing. At Tennessee State, at this moment, he senses the administration wants to hire someone outside the current staff.

"I love black colleges," Kaiss said. "It's fun. It's different. But if it's not in my plans, I'll keep being obedient."

In that sense, Kaiss is no different than his Division I-A counterparts. It's a grind -- sometimes you're a vagabond, sometimes you become a star. LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis -- who is white and is one of the best in the country at what he does -- spent nine years at Alabama State and Alabama A&M.

"[I'm] 50 with the energy of a 21-year-old," Kaiss texted the day before dived into his turkey. "Ask anyone. I am very passionate about what I do."

They're called HBCUs -- historically black colleges and universities. Tennessee State, located in Nashville, is one of approximately 100 such institutions whose principal mission is the education of black Americans. Most were established after the Civil War in a broad effort to educate former slaves.

During the segregation era, HBCUs became powerful and prosperous athletically because players couldn't attend white universities. Eddie Robinson and Grambling captured the nation's attention but excellence existed all throughout black college football. In the late 1960s and early '70s, it wasn't rare that 20 or more HBCU players would be drafted or sign NFL contracts in a single season. From 1964-74, Tennessee State alone produced seven first-round draft choices, including quarterback Joe Gilliam and defensive lineman Ed "Too Tall" Jones.

"When Coach Robinson was at Grambling it was different then," said Shannon Harris, Tennessee State's quarterbacks coach. "I-AA schools get a lot of transfers. You don't get Ed 'Too Tall' Jones fresh out of high school. Probably over half the transfers we have, [Kaiss] is heavily involved in. He understands what it takes."

Today, black college football has been marginalized in the sense it exists in our consciousness mostly at the I-AA level in leagues like the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference. The best HBCUs can be seen on national television. NBC televises the Bayou Classic each year between Grambling and Southern.

"What people don't realize is, we're next door to the University of Tennessee," Kaiss said. "There may be 10 assistant ADs over there. We have three. They have an academic center. We've got academic advisers. I'm an offensive coordinator, I've got to check classes."

Kaiss isn't complaining, just campaigning.

"HBCUs, that's Fred's home," said Don Jackson, a sports-based Montgomery, Ala., attorney and HBCU historian. "Fred is a fixture in the system. He knows recruiting. He knows the history. He could be a great coach anywhere. He has become so part of that system, he's probably as knowledgeable as any coach I've met."

Kaiss needs the same opportunity his African-American counterparts seek in Division I-A. There are fewer than 10 black coaches among the 120 schools playing the highest level of football. His job search, though, is strictly that. It is not part of a crusade to correct a racial disparity.

And it would not be necessarily new.

Dave Robbins retired last year after 30 seasons as basketball coach at Division II Virginia Union. Robbins became the first white coach in the history of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1978. In 1996, Michael Kornblau became the first starting white quarterback at Grambling.

Kaiss could pass for an average 50-year-old suburban father of two teenagers. He grew up in Baltimore, attended Maryland and LaSalle (La.) University. In 1992, he got a job as Morgan State's offensive coordinator and his offenses took off. In 1993, he moved on to Southern, which won the black college national championship in 1993 and 1995.

In 1998, in Kaiss' first stop at Tennessee State, the offense finished third in scoring and fourth in total offense in I-AA. Along the way he fell in love.

"I just think it's time [to become a head coach]," Kaiss said. "If I would have put my ducks in a row and called a lot of people -- I would have had to go to a different level but that's not me."

The legacy goes on. When you watch Notre Dame this weekend, realize that receiver Golden Tate is the son of Golden Tate Sr., a former NFL receiver from Tennessee State. North Carolina sophomore forward Ed Davis is the son of Terry Davis, a former NBA power forward from Virginia Union.

All of them realize the same thing as Fred Kaiss pushes away from the Thanksgiving table and his job search pushes into the future.

"Athletes are athletes," Kaiss said. "They all need a father. They all need a big brother."