Off to best start since 2006, NC Central hopes game at New Hampshire highlights growth

Nothing made N.C. Central coach Trei Oliver smile last week like seeing clean tables at the pregame meal. It’s part of his emphasis on the little things that prove his youthful Eagles team is listening.

Underclassmen fill 25 of the 44 offensive and defensive slots on their depth chart. And sometimes it’s hard to get them to understand that all the pieces fit together. Judging by Central’s 2-0 start to the season — and players cleaning up after themselves — Oliver’s message is getting through.

“There wasn’t one plate or cup left on the table,” Oliver said. “All the guys picked their trash up and when you get guys doing things like that — our team GPA is 3.0 — when guys are doing the right thing off the field, it translates and has a direct correlation on the field.”

It took a while for junior safety Khalil Baker to figure that out. He had to mature off the field before he could shine on it.

“I’m a big football guy, so when there were times where I wasn’t playing, I could tend to lose focus,” Baker said. “It’s just something that I had to come to find out about myself that everything goes hand-in-hand.”

Baker played sparingly as a freshman in 2019 and had trouble making the transition from playing cornerback in high school to safety at NCCU.

When the 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic it was like he lost sight of why he was in school. Oliver said it took some “heart-to-heart” conversations and extra study hall sessions, but it finally clicked for Baker.

Now he’s developed into one of the leaders on a defense that recorded its first shutout in five years with the Eagles’ 41-0 win over Winston-Salem State last week.

“He’s one of my favorite players on the football team, because just the growth and development of him,” Oliver said. “And we laugh and joke about it all the time. It’s just a blessing when you see young men develop and mature like that ... he’s reaping the benefits and rewards of that.”

Baker is tied for the team lead with 10 tackles. He’s also in a three-way tie for most interceptions in the MEAC with two, one each in the red zone against N.C. A&T and Winston-Salem State.

Oliver said the game finally slowed down for Baker once his “eye discipline” got better. Baker no longer gets caught staring in the backfield at what the quarterback is doing. He has learned to read his keys and react accordingly.

“I played corner, so you can play with more instincts, have bad eyes in a sense, because you don’t have as much field to cover,” Baker said. “But at safety you got to start making calls. You got to see the field and make adjustments. So playing with eye discipline was a big thing for me. It’s something that I had to grow, something that I’m gonna continue to work on now.”

The last time Central won its first two games of the season it was still competing in the CIAA on the Division II level. It’s the Eagles’ best start since reclassifying to the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision in 2007.

Improving to 3-0 will be a bigger challenge. The Eagles travel to the “other” Durham, in New Hampshire, to face No. 25 New Hampshire for their first meeting in series history.

“They’re excited, they will be ready for the challenge,” Oliver said. “I think that people underestimate us. I say it and I say it, we have a good football team, we have a talented football team. We still have ways to go. But you know, we continue to keep working and work to get better. Hopefully, we’ll have a number (ranking) by our name.”