Championship Sunday has concluded in the NFL Playoffs, which means we now know who will be in Santa Clara, playing in Super Bowl LX.
The AFC champion New England Patriots punched their ticket to their 11th Super Bowl in franchise history after taking down the Denver Broncos 10-7 in the conference title game.
They will face the NFC champion Seattle Seahawks, making their fourth-ever Super Bowl appearance, following a thrilling 31-27 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
This game will be a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, when the Patriots defeated the Seahawks 28-24, clinching the win following Malcolm Butler’s infamous interception on the one-yard line.
Ahead of their next encounter for the Lombardi trophy, here is every member of the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks with a connection to HBCUs.
New England Patriots
Terrell Jennings, Running Back
The only player with HBCU ties in this year’s Super Bowl, Patriots running back Terrell Jennings, makes it to the big game in his second professional season.
Before embarking on a career in the NFL, Jennings played a starring role in the Florida A&M backfield from 2019 to 2023, helping lead the Rattlers to a SWAC championship and Celebration Bowl victory in his final season.
In 45 career games, the Rattlers’ running back tallied 1,754 rushing yards on 381 attempts, scoring 24 touchdowns.
The New England Patriots signed Jennings shortly after he went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft. Initially cut as part of the 53-man roster deadline, he was immediately signed to the practice squad.
Injuries late in the season caused him to be signed to the team’s active roster, playing three games.
Entering the 2025 season, Jennings was once again cut before the 53-man roster deadline, being signed to the active roster later in the year.
He registered his first career touchdown in the team’s win against the Atlanta Falcons on November 2.
As of December 13, after playing in seven games, Jennings is on injured reserve after suffering a concussion.
Terrell Williams, Defensive Coordinator
New England Patriots defensive coordinator is making his first career Super Bowl appearance after 13 years of coaching in the NFL.
Beginning his coaching career at Fort Scott Community College as a Defensive Line coach in 1998, Williams would accept a similar role at North Carolina A&T the following year.
He would spend the next three years on the Aggies’ coaching staff, helping lead the team to a Black College National Championship in his first season.
After 10 years on multiple college coaching staffs across the FCS and FBS ranks, Williams got his first NFL coaching job as a Defensive Line coach with the Oakland Raiders in 2012.
He has been coaching in the NFL ever since, serving as a Defensive Line coach with the Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans, and Detroit Lions.
This season was set to be his first as a Defensive Coordinator at any level, being hired by the team in the 2025 offseason.
However, Williams has been away from the team since the first week of the season after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Zak Kuhr, Inside Linebackers Coach
Zak Kuhr is also making his first career Super Bowl appearance after six seasons of coaching in the NFL.
His first college coaching opportunity came as the Offensive Coordinator at Edward Waters in 2009, where he spent two seasons with the team.
He remained in the college ranks until 2019, featuring stops at Ohio State, Old Dominion, James Madison, Rutgers, Texas State, and the University of Texas.
Kuhr joined the NFL in 2020 as the Defensive quality control coach for the Tennessee Titans, headed by Mike Vrabel, now the head coach with the New England Patriots.
He also had a stint as the Defensive Assistant with the New York Giants in 2024 before joining the Patriots.
With Coach Williams following his cancer diagnosis, Kuhr has been responsible for the Patriots’ playcalling duties on defense.
Milton Patterson, Defensive Assistant
It only took one season of Milton Patterson coaching in the NFL for him to punch his ticket to his first Super Bowl.
Patterson is a Jackson State alum, playing four years as a linebacker before graduating with a degree in Recreation Therapy.
In 2012, he joined the Tigers’ coaching staff as a defensive analyst and an assistant strength and conditioning coach.
He would then make stops at Mississippi Valley State, Alabama State, Clark Atlanta, Fayetteville State, and Florida A&M.
In 2023, Patterson guided a linebacker group, headed by SWAC Defensive Player of the Year Isaiah Major, that contributed to the team being ranked among the top defensive units in FCS.
The team went on to win their first SWAC championship before beating Howard to claim the Celebration Bowl.
Seattle Seahawks
Leslie Frazier, Assistant Head Coach
In his 25th season as a coach in the NFL, Leslie Frazier is making his second Super Bowl appearance.
Before his extended coaching career, Frazier was a standout defensive back at Alcorn State, recording a school record nine interceptions in his sophomore season.
He signed with the Chicago Bears after going undrafted in 1981, playing five seasons with the team.
In his final season with the Bears, he won a Super Bowl as part of a vaunted 1985 defense that many consider the greatest in NFL history.
His coaching career began in 1988, when he was hired as the head coach at Trinity International University (then known as Trinity College), posting a 38-37-2 overall record.
Following a brief stint as a Defensive Backs coach at Illinois, Frazier received his NFL coaching job in a similar role with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999.
He has since served on numerous coaching staffs in the pros, including with the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baltimore Ravens, and Buffalo Bills.
Frazier reached his first Super Bowl as Assistant Head Coach with the Colts in 2006, going on to beat the Chicago Bears 29-17 to claim the franchise’s second-ever championship.
The Alcorn State alum’s first and only head coaching job in the NFL came with the Minnesota Vikings from 2010 to 2013.
This stint was notable for a 2012 season in which star running back Adrian Peterson won NFL MVP, helping lead the team to a 10-6 record in his return from a torn ACL the previous year.
Quinshon Odom, Offensive Assistant
In his second season on the Seattle Seahawks’ coaching staff, Quinshon Odom is on his way to Santa Clara for his first Super Bowl appearance.
Odom is an alumnus of Shaw University, where he was also a student-athlete, playing quarterback from 2010-2013. As a freshman, he helped lead the team to a CIAA championship (the team’s most recent conference title).
In his career, he finished with 3,700 passing yards, completing 53% of his passes, scoring 32 touchdowns to 20 interceptions.
Shortly after graduating from Shaw in 2014, Odom entered the coaching ranks, serving as an intern for the Eastern Kentucky football team in 2015.
The following year, he was hired as an offensive graduate assistant at Vanderbilt, spending four seasons with the team (later hired as offensive quality control coach).
In 2021, the Shaw alum got his first brush with the NFL, coaching running backs with the Buffalo Bills as part of the Bill Walsh Coaching Fellowship. This also coincided with him serving as the offensive line coach at the University of Texas.
Before joining the Seattle Seahawks, Odom spent two seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
