BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southwestern Athletic Conference has set its full field for the 2026 SWAC Football Media Day, locking in all 12 head coaches and two student-athletes from each program. The annual event kicks off July 15 at the Sheraton Birmingham.WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE SWAC FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYMedia Day will officially kick off the SWAC football calendar. At the beginning of the event, the conference’s athletic directors and SIDs will unveil the predicted order of finish for 2026. HBCU legends and ESPN announcers Tiffany Greene and Jay Walker will conduct one-on-one interviews on a live broadcast. Next, the coaches, administrators, and players, as well as Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland, will be available to the media for in-depth conversations.Marshall Faulk | Jan 31, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Indianaplis Colts former running back Marshall Faulk on the red carpet prior to the NFL Honors award ceremony at Symphony Hall. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesThe Southern Jaguars’ table figures to draw the heaviest traffic this year with the addition of new head coach Marshall Faulk. He’ll make his first major appearance at media day as a SWAC head coach, roughly seven months after the Pro Football Hall of Famer left a Colorado assistant job to replace Terrence Graves in Baton Rouge. Faulk inherits a Jaguars team that finished 2-10 last season and has framed his rebuild around discipline.Last season’s Coach of the Year, Tremaine Jackson, will be a focal point for the media. He led Prairie View A&M to the SWAC Championship in his first season at the helm. The Panthers are smarting from the four-overtime epic 40-38 loss to South Carolina State at the 2025 Cricket Celebration Bowl. Jackson delivers plenty of quotes and one-liners that will fill most reporters’ notebooks as PV looks to defend its SWAC title.The Coaches - Tremaine Jackson and TC Taylor | HBCU LegendsFormer HBCU national championship head coach TC Taylor will make his third appearance as the Tigers’ leader with quarterback Jared Lockhart and defensive back Kam Sallis. SWAC East contenders, Coach Eddie Robinson Jr. and Alabama State, will appear with dual-threat senior quarterback Andrew Body and defensive back Ta’Shawn Sims. Body is expected to be the preseason favorite for the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year honor. Nov. 22, 2025; Coach Cris Dishman on the sidelines versus Alabama A&M at Shell Energy Stadium. | Credit: Kyle T. Mosley, HBCU LegendsPIVOTAL YEAR FOR 3 COACHESThree SWAC head coaches are entering pivotal seasons. First, Grambling State’s Mickey Joseph arrives on steadier ground. The Tigers locked in his future with an extension through 2027 after a 7-5 finish, the program’s first winning season since 2019. That progress raises the question of whether Grambling can move back toward a SWAC title it has not claimed since 2017.Texas Southern will lean on signal-caller Cam’Ron McCoy under Cris Dishman, who finally got the Tigers to a winning season in over 20 years. Still, can Dishman continue TSU’s upward trajectory this season and shock many with its first SWAC title since the Johnnie Cole days?The Golden Lions are 9-26 over the past three seasons under Coach Alonzo Hampton. UAPB must make a positive turn with a winning record, showing remarkable improvement in 2026. A lack of progress by any of the three programs could force athletic department leaders to alter the current coaching staffs. That possibility would be unfortunate for Grambling State and Texas Southern, both of which are trending in the right direction.Alabama State University quarterback Andrew Body works with athletes during Prospect Camp on the ASU campus in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday morning June 13, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters ConnectQB-HEAVY ROTATIONBody, Lockhart, and McCoy may be three of the more well-known conference quarterbacks. More player invitations lean toward quarterbacks and defensive backs, the positions that most often swing SWAC results. The predicted order of finish gives the day its first measurable storyline. Voted by league coaches and sports information directors, the poll sets an early pecking order before camps open and frames the questions each coach answers at the podium.SWAC Media Day AttendeesAlabama A&MCornelious Brown IV, quarterbackJeremiah Hudson-Davis, defensive backSam Shade, head coachAlabama StateAndrew Body, quarterbackTa’Shawn Sims, defensive backEddie Robinson Jr., head coachAlcorn StateJaylon Tolbert, quarterbackEric Thomas, defensive linemanCedric Thomas, head coachBethune-CookmanChristian Loving, offensive linemanStephen Sparrow, linebackerRaymond Woodie, head coachFlorida A&MIsaiah Knowles, quarterbackAntonio Camon, defensive linemanQuinn Gray, head coachGrambling StateAlexander Vigil, offensive linemanMarcellius Johnson, linebackerMickey Joseph, head coachJackson StateJared Lockhart, quarterbackKam Sallis, defensive backT.C. Taylor, head coachMississippi Valley StateJosh Brown, quarterbackJamari Stokes, defensive backTerrell Buckley, head coachPrairie View A&MRodny Ojo, wide receiverMolik Mason, defensive linemanTremaine Jackson, head coachSouthernHerman Brister, defensive backCameron Jefferson, wide receiverMarshall Faulk, head coachTexas SouthernCam’Ron McCoy, quarterbackMJ Hinson, defensive backCris Dishman, head coachArkansas-Pine BluffJordan Jackson, wide receiverDanarius Hilliard, linebackerAlonzo Hampton, head coachTraining camps open within weeks of the Birmingham gathering, and the answers coaches give July 15 will shape how each program is measured this fall.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow