Decorated alum Trei Oliver returned to North Carolina Central University to serve as the program’s 24
th head football coach on Dec. 13, 2018.
Oliver has led the Eagles to a 37-21 record in five seasons at the helm. They won a share of the 2022 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) title before defeating No. 5 Jackson State in the Cricket Celebration Bowl for the HBCU national championship, and NCCU has gone 4-1 in MEAC play in each of the last four seasons.
NCCU finished the 2022 season ranked No. 17 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, the program’s highest national ranking at the FCS level. The Eagles won 10 games that season, for just the third time in program history, and they boasted seven First Team All-MEAC honorees – including two-time MEAC Offensive Player of the Year Davius Richard, 2022 Offensive Lineman of the Year Robert Mitchell and 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Khalil Baker.
In addition to the overtime victory over Jackson State, that season saw the Eagles rack up non-conference wins against No. 25 New Hampshire, Tennessee Tech and rival North Carolina A&T State.
Oliver was named MEAC Coach of the Year that season.
Richard repeated as Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, as the Eagles went 9-3 overall and once again were in the thick of the conference race. Oliver was again named MEAC Coach of the Year, after the Eagles made their first-ever appearance in the FCS Playoffs and ended the season ranked 20th in the FCS poll.
The 2024 season saw the Eagles go 8-3 overall and 4-1 yet again in MEAC play, coming in second in the league standings. The campaign featured non-conference wins over rival North Carolina A&T, Campbell and Alabama State. Six Eagles earned First Team All-MEAC honors, including running back J/Mari Taylor and punter Juan Velarde.
NCCU has a 19-9 conference record in five seasons under Oliver.
Prior to returning to Durham, Oliver spent three seasons as defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Southern University. In his last season, the Jaguars won the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) West Division championship and earned a spot in the conference title game.
From 2011-15, Oliver was outside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator at North Carolina A&T State. The Aggies shared the MEAC crown in 2014 and 2015 and were the Black college national champions in 2015 after winning the inaugural Celebration Bowl.
Oliver was outside linebackers coach, recruiting coordinator and special teams coordinator at Grambling State University from 2007-10, helping the Tigers win two SWAC West Division championships and the 2008 SWAC championship game.
Oliver’s first coaching stint in Durham came from 2003-06, when he served as defensive backs and wide receivers coach, as well as recruiting coordinator and special teams coordinator. The Eagles won back-to-back Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships in 2005 and 2006.
2006 also saw NCCU go 11-1 and earn the Black college national title.
Oliver, a Yorktown, Va., native, earned all-conference and all-region honors as a defensive back and punter in his four-year playing career (1994-97). He led the CIAA in punting twice (including a 41.7 average in 1997, fifth-best in program history). As a junior in 1996, he was part of an Eagles defensive backfield that led all of NCAA Div. II in pass defense efficiency.
Among NCCU’s career leaders, Oliver sits fourth all
-time in punting average (39.3), 12
th with 31 passes defended (24 break-ups, seven interceptions) and 13
th in tackles with 234 (126 solo). He was named either first or second team All-CIAA in each of his four seasons.
Oliver earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from NCCU in 1998, and he later earned a master’s degree in criminal justice from Grambling State in 2010.
The maroon and gray run in the Oliver family; both his parents, Colon and Evelyn Oliver, are Eagle graduates, as is his wife, Yvette. Colon also played football for the Eagles, as wide receiver from 1963-66.
THE TREI OLIVER FILE
Season Overall MEAC
W-L W-L
2019 4-8 3-5
2021 6-5 4-1
2022 10-2 4-1
2023 9-3 4-1
2024 8-3 4-1
Total 37-21 19-9
NOTE: There was no season in 2020 (COVID-19)
Education:
North Carolina Central University, 1998, bachelor’s degree in physical education
Grambling State University, 2010, master’s degree in criminal justice
Collegiate Playing Experience:
North Carolina Central University, defensive back and punter (1994-97)
- 1997: First Team All-CIAA (punter), Second Team All-CIAA (defensive back), First Team All-Region (defensive back), Second Team All-Region (punter)
- 1996: Second Team All-CIAA (punter)
- 1995: First Team All-CIAA (punter)
- 1994: Second Team All-CIAA (punter), All-CIAA Rookie Team
Coaching Experience:
- Delaware State University, assistant coach (defensive backs/assistant special teams coordinator), 1999-2002
- North Carolina Central University, assistant coach (defensive backs/wide receivers/recruiting coordinator/special teams coordinator), 2003-06
- Grambling State University, assistant coach (outside linebackers/recruiting coordinator/special teams coordinator), 2007-10
- North Carolina A&T State University, assistant coach (outside linebackers/recruiting coordinator), 2011-15
- Southern University, assistant coach (safeties, defensive coordinator), 2016-18
- North Carolina Central University, head coach, 2019-current
Head Coaching Awards:
2022 MEAC Football Coach of the Year
2023 MEAC Football Coach of the Year
Personal:
Born June 9, 1976, in Yorktown, Virginia.
Parents are Colon and Evelyn Oliver, both NCCU graduates. Father played football as a wide receiver at NCCU from 1963-66.
Married to Yvette Oliver, an NCCU graduate. Parents of son, Reggie.
EAGLE NOTE: Oliver is the third NCCU alum to lead the football program. 1963 graduate Bishop Harris served as head coach in Durham from 1991-92, and 1933 graduate Herman Riddick led the Eagles to a program-record 112 wins from 1945-64.
