How the Orange Bowl Made History

On Jan. 9, 2025, Coach Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish will battle Coach James Franklin’s Nittany Lions for a spot in college football’s national championship game. Regardless of who wins, a Black head coach will move on to contend for the FBS national championship title for the first time in history.

This historic Orange Bowl has been shaped by the struggle over race and place embedded within the history of the bowl game itself and its host city, Miami. For almost a century, the Orange...