As Saturday’s Southern Heritage Classic approaches, founder Fred Jones has adopted a football cliché and made it his own.

He is taking this one game at a time. It’s all he can do at the moment.

Parking locations announced for Southern Heritage Classic

The Southern Heritage Classic made it though 9/11, it made it through hours of thunderstorms that canceled the game in 2018, and it made it through the early rounds of the pandemic. Now it is on the edge of another shakeup, because earlier this year Jackson State released a statement that it intended to pull out of the event that is under contract until 2024.

As a result, the ownership group for the Southern Heritage Classic, Summitt Management, is suing Jackson State and the SWAC for millions of dollars. So Jones can’t, and won’t, talk about hypotheticals for the game moving forward.

But he can talk about this year — even if it may be the last year that Tennessee State and Jackson State play each other at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. Best he can tell, there’s just as much excitement around the game as there has ever been.

The entire week has been business as usual, according to Jones. Because the University of Memphis is on the road for week one, many have already begun to stake out tailgating spots.

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“The Southern Heritage Classic is still going strong,” Jones said. “Sometimes when you do things for a long time, they end up becoming a little bit stale. But the Classic, it keeps pushing forward each year. I say that from a fan point of view. Every year rolls around, and the level of excitement this year is there. The parade sold out in advance; the tailgate sold out in one hour; we probably will have 45,000 plus at the game; the golf tournament is sold out. When you have that kind interest, that’s a clear indication that this is something that people really want.”

Except maybe not Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders. In a video posted to his Instagram page from Feb. 23, the coach sounded off on why he believes the game should not continue in Memphis.

“That’s going to be the last time,” Sanders said when discussing the upcoming game. “When we go down there, we take seven buses for the band, we have four buses for our people, the administration, then hotel accommodations, and food. By the time we get back, we broke. So we’re about to stop all that, just so y’all know. It has to be equitable for us at Jackson. We have to do business now.”

Sanders followed that up by going on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take podcast and again criticizing the event.

“It’s a hustle. We’re losing money tremendously,” Sanders said. “This particular Classic you’re talking about, first of all, why would two colleges need a promoter? Your two colleges have ADs, why would you need a promoter, that’s No.1.? Secondly, I think the fee was like over 30 years, $6 million. That’s peanuts.”

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For some, the idea that this could be the end of a run that began in 1990 could serve as a cloud over the 2022 edition. Jones is refusing to look at it that way. He’s trying to make this year’s Southern Heritage Classic the best yet.

“For anybody that has put on events or been around events, there is always something,” Jones said. “There’s always something you have to take care of. There’s always something you have to do. That’s just part of it. So you can’t lose discipline, or lose sight of the things that you have to do.”

The game, rich with history, has undoubtedly been a massively uplifting event to the Memphis community for more than 30 years. In 2019, a market assessment estimated that the direct economic impact of the Classic was $14.6 million with a total economic benefit of $29.2 million.

But what is best for one is not always what is viewed as what is best for another. Shortly after announcing that they would be leaving the Southern Heritage Classic, the SWAC announced a new Classic to take place in Birmingham for the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons. The ownership group for the Southern Heritage Classic is also suing the athletic conference, claiming that they persuaded JSU to leave the game in Memphis.

“Fred Jones has done a hell of a job with the Southern Heritage Classic, to be honest,” said Calvin Younger, who played for Jackson State from 1983-86 and is now a loyal supporter. He has attended every Southern Heritage Classic game. “He has done a great job of elevating two great HBCUs for many years.

Jackson State playing in 2022 Classic, after all

“But, in our lives, we have chapters. This is just a chapter that Jackson State and Tennessee State have been in, but now it’s time to move on to that next chapter. That is nothing against what Fred has done, because it took a whole lot of heart to even try to put this together, and he’s been tremendously successful with it. I have no doubts that whatever direction the schools decide to go, the Southern Heritage Classic will continue to be a big deal.”

What does that next chapter for JSU look like under Sanders?

“It’s so exciting, man,” Younger said. “It’s almost like riding a horse. You are just riding it as fast as long as you can, and just riding it until you get thrown off.”

And for Jones. Well, he’s not finished with this current chapter just yet.

“My focus is just trying to get through this year,” Jones said. “I looked at the weather report and it said 50% rain next weekend. Then I looked at it again, yesterday and it said 30%. Then I looked at it this morning and it said 20%. That’s where my head is at because it affects our preparation. There are too many things that I have to concern myself with right now to worry about the future or a year down the road.”