Story courtesy of: David Boyce, MIAA Contributor 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One of the bright spots for Lincoln University football team in the 2019 season was running back Hosea Franklin leading the MIAA in rushing as a sophomore with 1,359 yards.

It takes a total team commitment from the offensive unit to help a running back achieve success at that level. Franklin understands that and it came through in his answer about the upcoming 2021 season.

“I’ve been watching a lot of film, correcting my mistakes from what I did in the 2019 season,” Franklin said.  “Also, the coaching staff and teammates are helping to push me to be better and won’t let me fail.”

From the head coach to Franklin to returning junior linebacker TeAndre Skinner, the Blue Tigers are committed to improve their 2019 record and make an impact in the rugged MIAA.

Second-year coach Malik Hoskins used himself as an example that putting team ahead of self is the only way to go. In 2019, Hoskins was an interim head coach. From time to time, he wondered what the future held for him. Would he be looking for a new job?

“That was so selfish of me to not put myself fully into the players on this team,” Hoskins said. “I have to be more selfless for this football program. Lincoln deserves it. Jeff City deserves it. So many people deserve a product they can be proud of. That’s my job, that’s my goal.”

Skinner is excited Hoskins selected him as one of the leaders to show the younger Blue Tigers the way to be successful in the MIAA. He admits he is not much of a speaker when it comes to telling players the way to win.

Anybody is capable of talking a big game, he said. The key for Skinner is showing the way by leading by example.

“I feel like I am that perfect person to lead by example that we can take this a different route and win, win the day, win the season, win the game,” Skinner said.

The thing about the Lincoln football program is it never shies away from a challenge regardless of the obstacles in its way. For example, the Blue Tigers took on Nicholls State Feb. 19.

Leading up to the game, it snowed just about every day in Jefferson City, Mo. Lincoln doesn’t have an indoor facility like many of the MIAA programs. The Blue Tigers were forced to prepare for the game in the recreation gymnasium.

Still, they got on the bus and made the long drive to Thibodaux, La., and played a strong Division I FCS program.

“The game was embarrassing to the program, to the city of Jefferson City to Lincoln University for the way it turned out,” Hoskins said. “I put all of that on myself because I made the decision to go down and play and put the players in a bad situation.

“On the bright side, we got to go down and see a program that used to resemble Lincoln and what it can become with the right resources and backing. Even though we went down there and got things handed to us pretty good, looking back at it, there were some good things to come out of that football game.”

The Blue Tigers are ready to take all their experiences from 2020 and turn them into wins in 2021.

“I think last year was a great opportunity for us to work harder and get better as a team,” Skinner said “We could take time off from the season and just build that team chemistry and come together and see what we could do in the fall.

“In the offseason, coach Hoskins was really determined to turn around our program. I believe in him with all I got.”