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Rod Broadway and Dee Hardison were the Carolina blue iron curtain.
That Broadway will be in attendance and honored at Saturday’s home game against NC Central, among other HBCU pioneers, reminds me of his playing days alongside Hardison for the 1977 ACC champion Tar Heels.
They were 5-star recruits for Bill Dooley 1970s juggernaut, massive defensive tackles from western North Carolina (Oakboro) and Eastern (Jacksonville) in the days when Dooley dominated recruiting in the state and Tidewater, Virgina, and into Pennsylvania.
Their defense led the ACC with incomparable stats, holding opponents to under 150 yards per game, 3 yards per rush and less than one touchdown a game, both named All-ACC in their junior and senior years.
I will never forget the 1977 season finale at Duke, which had a pretty good offensive line and rushing game. The Blue Devils got zippo running the ball and managed a field goal in UNC’s 16-3 victory. The Heels went to the Liberty Bowl and lost to mighty Nebraska 21-17.
Duke coach Mike McGee, who won the Outland Trophy as the best lineman in the country when playing in Durham, was amazed that his team could not block Broadway and Hardison or get by them in any way.
Both stayed in football and had long careers.
Broadway went into coaching and had an illustrious career at Historically Black Colleges, where he won five national championships after serving 13 years as assistant at Duke and five at Florida. He joined John Bunting’s staff at his alma mater before taking over a 2-8 program at Central, leading the Eagles to a pair of CIAA titles with a 33-11 record in Durham and won Black national championships in 2005 and ’06.
Before his third year at Central, Rod lost his wife Diane after she fought a rheumatic illness for 14 years.
He moved on to iconic Grambling State, where he led the Tigers to an 11-2 record in 2008 and the Black national championship. At North Carolina A&T, Broadway capped off a 2017 season when the Aggies went undefeated and knocked off Grambling for his second Black natty there and his fifth overall. He was there for six seasons before retiring at age 62.
Hardison, who also was first-team All-ACC his last two seasons in Chapel Hill, made first team All-American as a senior and was drafted No. 32 by the Buffalo Bills and also played for the Giants, Chargers and Chiefs. Dee died in April of 2018 at 61.
Mack Brown has always supported HBCU schools and football programs and when he scheduled Central in 2022 he had such a celebration in mind.
Also being recognized Saturday as honorary captains are the late Bishop Harris, a former Central star who passed away earlier this year, Hall of Fame player and coach at Central Billy Hayes and George “Bulldog” Smith, the strength coach there for 20 years.
Featured image via UNC
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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