Roderick Craig Broadway (born April 9, 1955) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from b ...

from 2003 to 2006,

Grambling State University Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

from 2007 to 2010, and

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

from 2011 to 2017, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coaching record of 125–45. He is the only coach to win a

black college football national championship The black college football national championship is a national championship honor that, since 1920, has been regularly bestowed upon the best football teams among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) within the United States. Histo ...

at three different schools.

Early life and playing career

Broadway was born April 9, 1955 in

Oakboro, North Carolina Oakboro is a town in Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,859 at the 2010 census. Geography Oakboro is located at (35.229159, -80.332440). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of ...

and attended

West Stanly High School West Stanly High School is a public high school located at 306 East Red Cross Rd. in Oakboro, North Carolina, United States. The school is part of the Stanly County Schools district. Its official mascot is the Colt. History In 1962, four county ...

. A 1977 graduate of the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, Broadway played on the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

from 1974 to 1977. He helped lead the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

to the 1974

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

and the 1977

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

. Broadway earned All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

honors as a senior in 1977.

Coaching career

Before taking over at Grambling, Broadway was as an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I-A level for 22 years. In 2002, he took over the struggling football program at

(NCCU), then an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

school in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. The school had gone 2–8 the year before Broadway took over. Broadway led

North Carolina Central Eagles The North Carolina Central Eagles refer to the 14 sports teams representing North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham, North Carolina in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis, and track an ...

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. CIAA institutions mostly consist of historically black coll ...

(CIAA) championships and black national championships, in 2005 and 2006. During his final three seasons at NCCU Broadway had a combined record of 29–4. He closed out his tenure at NCCU with a record of 33–11. Broadway became the head football coach at

in 2007. In his second year at Grambling State, he led the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

to an 11–2 record and the 2008

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in t ...

(SWAC) championship and black national championship. On February 2, 2011, Broadway resigned from his position as head coach at Grambling State University, and the following day it was announced that he accepted the position of head coach at North Carolina A&T. Broadway, replaced Alonzo Lee who was in his second year at the position before his release. In 2015, he led the Aggies to

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

(MEAC) and black national titles. In 2017, Broadway's NCA&T Aggies capped off a perfect season defeating the once-beaten Grambling Tigers in the Celebration to win another black national titles. While Broadway's background, as a coach and as a player, is rooted in defense, his teams at North Carolina Central and Grambling Statewere known for their explosive offenses.

Personal life

In June 2004, Broadway's wife, Dianne, died after 14 years of battling

scleroderma Scleroderma is a group of autoimmune diseases that may result in changes to the skin, blood vessels, muscles, and internal organs. The disease can be either localized to the skin or involve other organs, as well. Symptoms may include areas of ...

, a rheumatic disease of the connective tissues.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadway, Rod 1955 births Living people Duke Blue Devils football coaches East Carolina Pirates football coaches Florida Gators football coaches Grambling State Tigers football coaches North Carolina A&T Aggies football coaches North Carolina Central Eagles football coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football players People from Oakboro, North Carolina Coaches of American football from North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople