Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) walked into Selection Sunday with two things: a CIAA championship trophy in hand and a powerful memory in its heart. A year ago, the Golden Bulls sat in this same room as the NCAA Division II playoff bracket filled up without them.
That moment became the gut-punch finale of Brick x Brick with JCSU Football: Season Two, showing a team crushed by back-to-back losses and a postseason dream slipping away. They had lost games, lost control of their fate, and lost their shot at history.
But they never lost their belief.
This time, the room looked different. Hats from the 2025 CIAA Championship clung to their heads like they had them on for 24 hours straight. The Brick x Brick cameras captured smiles instead of silence. And the room exploded when their name was announced as the two-seed in the newly formed Super Region 1.
They didn’t erupt because they were simply happy to get in. They erupted because hearing their name announced as the 10-1 CIAA champions and a top team in all of Division II football was an audible affirmation that their ‘Brrick x Brick’ rebuild was a success.
Coach Maurice Flowers made that point immediately. “We’re not just happy to be here. This is what we earned as a No. 2 seed.”
A Celebration With Purpose
The reaction wasn’t about arrival. It was about validation. The Golden Bulls earned the CIAA’s automatic bid, the No. 2 seed, and a home playoff game at “The Cut”, the nickname for the Irwin Belk Complex, a stadium with one of the best skyline views in the country.
Flowers quickly shifted from celebration to perspective. He pointed back to the earliest days of the rebuild. He shouted out the “day one” players — the ones ‘Brick x Brick’ fans have watched grow for three seasons.
“When we first got here, there were two guys that were here from day one”
He reminded the team that Defensive Lineman Steny Joseph joined the program when it was 1–9. Joseph could have walked away after last year’s heartbreak. Instead, he told Flowers, “Coach, I’m not going out like that. I’m coming back.”
Those stories shaped the foundation of the program. They also shaped the ‘Brick x Brick’ series, where quiet freshmen have grown into vocal leaders over the course of three seasons.
Flowers pointed to that evolution. “Last year, when we sat in this room and didn’t hear our name called… It’s about growth, man. And we really aren’t done yet.”
A Champion Returns: Tom Baldwin’s “You Got One” Moment
Then, the legends stepped forward.
Tom Baldwin, a member of the historic 1969 CIAA Championship team, walked to the front of the room. He lifted his hand and pointed to his championship ring — just like he did in ‘Brick x Brick’ Season Two after JCSU started 6–0.
Back then, he looked at the team and told them, “Your turn.” This time, he smiled, tapped the ring again, and said, “You got one.”
Baldwin went on to discuss what this season meant to the JCSU community.
“I saw folks I hadn’t seen since I graduated in 1971… You won’t wait another 56 years.”
He also delivered one of the night’s best metaphors:
“How do you purify gold? You put it over fire, you skim off the impurities, you keep going until you can see your reflection. That’s what you are — pure.”
The message hit home. This CIAA championship team had been forged the same way — through pressure, fire, and perseverance.
Sheriff Garry McFadden: “You’ve Woken Up Generations”
Next came Mecklenburg County Sheriff and proud JCSU alum Garry McFadden. His voice boomed before he even reached the front.
“You all don’t even know what you did. You have woken up generations.” He described alumni caravanning to Durham, families returning after years away, and Charlotte lifting its head with pride again.
Then he guaranteed that the city would stand behind them for the playoffs: “When it comes to The Cut — we’ll be there to serve.”
President Valerie Kinloch: “You Are the Prize”
Finally, President — and alum — Valerie Kinloch addressed the team. If you watch ‘Brick x Brick’, you know her face well. She appears throughout the series, offering sideline encouragement and speaking directly to the players after games. Kinloch hasn’t missed a single matchup this season.
She told them why. “It’s because I see myself in all of you.”
She shared stories of long-lost alumni returning. She discussed how the team helped rebuild campus pride. Then she offered one of the most powerful messages of the night. “Whatever you do in the world, I want you to know that you are a prize.”
Brick x Brick: From Documented Pain to Documented Progress
Everything in the room — every cheer, every message, every emotion — is now part of the next chapter of Brick x Brick.
Last year’s scene, the silent heartbreak of not hearing their name called, became a bookmark in JCSU program history. This year’s scene ensures that moment is a footnote, not a forward. These Selection Sunday moments will be featured in a future episode centered on JCSU football’s first-ever home playoff game.
‘Brick x Brick’ will remain in production throughout the Golden Bulls’ 2025 postseason run, as the documentary series continues to capture one of the most inspiring HBCU football turnarounds of all time, in real time.
The heartbreak. The rebuild. The belief. And now the payoff.
The Road Ahead: Frostburg State Comes to The Cut
JCSU now prepares to host Frostburg State in Round One of the DII Playoffs. Flowers made it clear they won’t look too far ahead. “One day at a time. One opponent at a time.”
Then he reinforced their identity. “We’re undefeated at home. And someone’s got to come down to The Cut.”
Home-field advantage has become part of JCSU’s personality. The Cut is loud, proud, and packed with energy — and now it will host playoff football for the first time.
Johnson C. Smith spent more than five decades stuck between hope and history. Breaking that drought didn’t come from luck. It came from alumni support, community connection, culture-building, and a team that bought into something bigger than itself.
Brick x Brick.