Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Union, South Carolina, U.S. | January 4, 1937
Playing career | |
c. 1959 | South Carolina State |
Position(s) | Center |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1968–1971 | North Carolina A&T (DL) |
1972 | Pittsburgh (assistant) |
1973–1978 | South Carolina State |
1979–1983 | Wichita State |
1984–1988 | Howard |
1989–2001 | South Carolina State |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 180–132–6 (college) 64–8–2 (high school) |
Bowls | 3–4 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
3 Black college national (1976–1977, 1994) 7 MEAC (1974–1978, 1987, 1994) | |
Awards | |
5× MEAC Coach of the Year (1973, 1976, 1978, 1987, 1992) | |
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2010 (profile) |
Willie E. Jeffries (born January 4, 1937) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at South Carolina State University for 19 seasons in two stints, five seasons at Wichita State University, and five seasons at Howard University. Jeffries was the first African American head coach of an NCAA Division I-A football program at a predominantly white college when he coached Wichita State. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010. [1]
Jeffries grew up in South Carolina, where he attended the segregated Sims High School in Union, South Carolina. He played football there for coach James F. Moorer, who went on a record-setting win streak. [2]
Jeffries started his coaching career in 1960 as an assistant at Barr Street High School in Lancaster, South Carolina. He was given his first head coaching job in Gaffney, South Carolina where he went 64–8–2 in seven seasons.
Jeffries's record during his two stints with the South Carolina State Bulldogs football team (1973 to 1978 and 1989 to 2001) includes three black college football national championships (1976, 1977,and 1994), seven Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championships, several post-season appearances, and numerous coaching awards. [3] Players that Jeffries coached at South Carolina State include College Football Hall of Famers Harry Carson and Donnie Shell as well as Robert Porcher, Orlando Brown Sr., Chartric Darby, Dextor Clinkscale, and Anthony Cook.
In 2010, Jeffries was named Head Football Coach Emeritus by the South Carolina State University Board of Trustees. With the new role, Jeffries will also serve as a liaison between the university, its alumni and other constituents and also help market the university. University President Dr. George Cooper said of the elevation to Coach Emeritus, ""Coach Jeffries and his wide appeal to so many of our stakeholders and other constituents provide us a great opportunity to brand and market the University. He can help us frame relationships that will increase support for athletics."
SCSU Athletic Director Charlene Johnson added, "Coach Jeffries is truly admired by so many. Not just for his achievements in athletics, but also for his humanitarian contributions to this community, this state and society. He has used football and his great personal skills to bring about better community relations in Orangeburg, the Palmetto State and beyond and I think it's very fitting that the university has bestowed this honor upon him." [4]
When Jeffries took over Wichita State in 1979, he became the first African American head coach of a Division I-A football program at a predominantly white school. [5] He is the only man to coach against both Eddie Robinson of Grambling State and Bear Bryant of Alabama.
Jeffries was the 32nd head football coach Wichita State for five seasons from 1979 until 1983. His 1982 team's record of 8–3 proved to be the last winning season in Wichita State history as the program was discontinued after the 1986 season. His overall coaching record at Wichita State was 21–32–2. This ranks him third at Wichita State in terms of total wins and 21st at Wichita State in terms of winning percentage. [6] During his time at Wichita State, Jeffries team was censured by the NCAA for repeated rules violations including improper recruitment and unethical conduct by the coaching staff. [7] [8] This led to the team being placed on probation for the 1983 and 1984 seasons which prevented them from appearing on live television, docked them five scholarships per season, and banned them from post-season participation. Due in part to the probation, Wichita State discontinued their football program following the 1986 season.
The players whom Jeffries coached at Wichita State include: Anthony Jones, Jumpy Geathers, and Prince McJunkins. [9]
Jeffries coached at Howard University from 1984 to 1988. He led the Howard Bison football team to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in 1987, however, this title was forfeited along with all victories for the season when it was learned that Jeffries had used up to 30 ineligible players on his team. His coaching record at Howard was 21–32. The Bison players who played under Jeffries who went on to be drafted into the NFL were tight end Jimmie Johnson, Harvey Reed, Troy Kyles, Derrick Faison, David Westbrook, Sean Vanhorse, Brian Taltoan, Gary Willingham, John Javis, James Moses and Tim Watson.
On May 5, 1988, the Governor of South Carolina Carroll Campbell presented Jeffries with the Order of the Palmetto. [10] This is the highest civilian honor in the state of South Carolina and is awarded to those citizens who make achievements of statewide impact.
Jeffries was awarded the companion honor of the Order of the Silver Crescent by Governor Jim Hodges on October 13, 2001. [11] This is awarded to those who make community or professional accomplishments of local significance.
On June 20, 2009, Jeffries was inducted into the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame for his color barrier breaking run as head coach of Wichita State. [12]
Jeffries was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in the enshrinement ceremonies in South Bend, Indiana on July 16–17, 2010. [13]
The South Carolina State Board of Trustees voted to name the football field in Oliver C. Dawson Stadium after Jeffries. Willie E. Jeffries Field was unveiled during halftime of the November 5, 2010 Howard at South Carolina State football game. The halftime festivities included an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute sponsored by The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame. NFF representative Hillary Jeffries (no relation) presented Coach Jeffries with a plaque as part of Willie Jeffries day in Orangeburg. [14]
Jeffries has been a friend of Herman Boone dating back to when the two were assistant coaches in North Carolina. Boone wrote a letter of recommendation in support of Jeffries' induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. In it, Boone wrote, "Without his leadership and example, there would not have been Remember the Titans or the advancement in race relations in sports that we have witnessed."
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
South Carolina State Bulldogs (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)(1973–1978) | |||||||||
1973 | South Carolina State | 7–3–1 | 4–1–1 | 2nd | |||||
1974 | South Carolina State | 8–4 | 5–1 | 1st | L Pelican | ||||
1975 | South Carolina State | 8–2–1 | 5–1 | T–1st | L Pelican | ||||
1976 | South Carolina State | 10–1 | 5–1 | T–1st | W Bicentennial | ||||
1977 | South Carolina State | 9–1–1 | 6–0 | 1st | W Gold | ||||
1978 | South Carolina State | 8–2–1 | 5–0–1 | 1st | |||||
Wichita State Shockers (Missouri Valley Conference)(1979–1983) | |||||||||
1979 | Wichita State | 1–10 | 1–4 | T–4th | |||||
1980 | Wichita State | 5–5–1 | 4–1–1 | 2nd | |||||
1981 | Wichita State | 4–6–1 | 3–3–1 | T–5th | |||||
1982 | Wichita State | 8–3 | 4–1 | T–2nd | |||||
1983 | Wichita State | 3–8 | 3–3 | T–4th | |||||
Wichita State: | 21–32–2 | 15–12–2 | |||||||
Howard Bison (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)(1984–1988) | |||||||||
1984 | Howard | 2–8 | 0–4 | 5th | |||||
1985 | Howard | 4–7 | 0–4 | 5th | |||||
1986 | Howard | 9–3 | 3–2 | T–2nd | |||||
1987 | Howard | 9–1 [n 1] | 5–0 | 1st | |||||
1988 | Howard | 7–4 | 3–3 | T–4th | |||||
Howard: | 31–23 | 11–13 | |||||||
South Carolina State Bulldogs (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)(1989–2001) | |||||||||
1989 | South Carolina State | 5–6 | 3–3 | T–3rd | |||||
1990 | South Carolina State | 4–6 | 2–4 | 5th | |||||
1991 | South Carolina State | 7–4 | 3–3 | T–3rd | |||||
1992 | South Carolina State | 7–4 | 4–2 | T–2nd | |||||
1993 | South Carolina State | 8–4 | 4–2 | 2nd | L Heritage | ||||
1994 | South Carolina State | 10–2 | 6–0 | 1st | W Heritage | ||||
1995 | South Carolina State | 6–4 | 4–2 | 3rd | |||||
1996 | South Carolina State | 4–6 | 4–3 | T–3rd | |||||
1997 | South Carolina State | 9–3 | 5–2 | T–2nd | L Heritage | ||||
1998 | South Carolina State | 5–6 | 3–5 | T–6th | |||||
1999 | South Carolina State | 4–6 | 2–5 | 7th | |||||
2000 | South Carolina State | 3–8 | 2–6 | T–7th | |||||
2001 | South Carolina State | 6–5 | 5–3 | T–3rd | |||||
South Carolina State: | 128–77–4 | 77–44–2 | |||||||
Total: | 180–132–6 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth |
Louis Leo Holtz is an American former football coach and television analyst. He served as the head football coach at the College of William & Mary (1969–1971), North Carolina State University (1972–1975), the New York Jets (1976), the University of Arkansas (1977–1983), the University of Minnesota (1984–1985), the University of Notre Dame (1986–1996), and the University of South Carolina (1999–2004), compiling a career college head coaching record of 249–132–7. Holtz's 1988 Notre Dame team went 12–0 with a victory in the Fiesta Bowl and was the consensus national champion. Holtz is the only college football coach to lead six different programs to bowl games and the only coach to guide four different programs to the final top 15 rankings.
Harry Donald Carson is an American former professional football player who spent his entire career as a linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Carson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Donnie Shell is an American former professional football player who was a safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) between 1974 and 1987. Shell was a member of the Steelers famed Steel Curtain defense in the 1970s.
Herman Ike Boone was an American high school football coach who coached the 1971 T. C. Williams High School football team to a 13–0 season, state championship, and national runner-up. That season later served as the basis for the film Remember the Titans in 2000, in which Boone was portrayed by actor Denzel Washington.
Ralph H. Miller was an American college basketball coach, a head coach for 38 years at three universities: Wichita, Iowa, and Oregon State. With an overall record of 657–382 (.632), his teams had losing records only three times. Prior to his final season, he was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame on May 3, 1988. Miller played college football and basketball at the University of Kansas. His performance on the football team led to him being drafted in the 1942 NFL Draft, but he chose to serve in the military instead of playing in the NFL.
James Moore "Big Jim" Tatum was an American football and baseball player and coach. Tatum served as the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Oklahoma (1946), and the University of Maryland, College Park (1947–1955), compiling a career college football record of 100–35–7. His 1953 Maryland team won a national title. As a head coach, he employed the split-T formation with great success, a system he had learned as an assistant under Don Faurot at the Iowa Pre-Flight School during World War II. Tatum was also the head baseball coach at Cornell University from 1937 to 1939, tallying a mark of 20–40–1. Tatum's career was cut short by his untimely death in 1959. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1984.
Dick Sheridan was an American college football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Furman University from 1978 to 1985 and North Carolina State University from 1986 to 1992, compiling a career college football record of 121–52–5. A 1964 graduate of the University of South Carolina, Sheridan coached the Furman Paladins to a 69–23–2 record over eight seasons. His Furman teams won six Southern Conference championships and scored two wins over NC State. In 1985, he was named the AFCA Division I-AA Coach of the Year. His record at NC State was 52–29–3 over seven seasons. He led the Wolfpack to six bowl games. Sheridan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2020.
The Clemson Tigers are the American football team at Clemson University. The Tigers compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In recent years, the Tigers have been ranked among the most elite college football programs in the United States.
Marcelino Huerta Jr., also known by his nickname Chelo Huerta, was an American college football player and coach. Huerta played college football for the University of Florida, and he was later the head football coach for the University of Tampa, the Municipal University of Wichita—later known as Wichita State University—and Parsons College. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2002.
The South Carolina Gamecocks football program represents the University of South Carolina. The Gamecocks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. The team's head coach is Shane Beamer. They play their home games at Williams–Brice Stadium.
The Wichita State Shockers are the athletic teams that represent Wichita State University, located in Wichita, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the American Athletic Conference since the 2017–18 academic year. The Shockers previously competed in the D-I Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) from 1945–46 to 2016–17; as an Independent from 1940–41 to 1944–45; in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIC) from 1923–24 to 1939–40; and in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1902–03 to 1922–23. As of the 2023 conference realignment, it is one of two schools in The American to have never been a member of Conference USA, although it will become a single-sport member of that conference for bowling in 2024. They are also currently the only non-football-sponsoring institution that is a member of an FBS conference.
Charles Robert Moir was an American college basketball coach. He was the head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball team from 1976 until his resignation in October 1987. During his 11 seasons at Virginia Tech, Moir's Hokies compiled a 213–119 record. He was forced to resign after the discovery of severe NCAA violations. Including his time at Tech and coaching stints in high school and at Roanoke College and Tulane University, Moir compiled a career record of 616–238 in his 31 seasons as a high school and college head coach.
William R. Davis was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at South Carolina State University, Savannah State University, Tennessee State University, and Johnson C. Smith University. Davis won four conference championships and made two appearances in the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs at South Carolina State. Under Davis, Savannah State posted its only appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Lew Perkins was an American athletic director. He ended his 40-year career at the University of Kansas (KU), having joined in June 2003, taking over for Al Bohl. Perkins previously held similar positions with the University of Connecticut, University of Maryland, College Park, Wichita State University and University of South Carolina Aiken where he gained a reputation for successfully cleaning up schools suffering under NCAA violations. Under Perkins direction, the athletics program at KU had several successful seasons, including winning the 2008 Orange Bowl in football and the 2008 men's basketball championship. His tenure, though, ultimately ended in scandal and early retirement in 2010.
The Wichita State Shockers football team was the college football program of Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. The Shockers fielded a team from 1897 to 1986. They played their home games at Cessna Stadium and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference until the program was discontinued. The team was known as Fairmount from its first season in 1897 to 1925 and Wichita from 1926 through 1963.
The Howard Bison football team represents Howard University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
The South Carolina State Bulldogs football team represents South Carolina State University in college football. The Bulldogs play in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
This timeline of college football in Kansas sets forth notable college football-related events that occurred in the state of Kansas.
Benjamin Sylvester Blacknall was an American football player and coach also former sergeant (Sgt.) in the Air Force. He served as the head football coach for Delaware Hornets at Delaware State University from 2000 to 2003, compiling a record of 16–24. He was fired midway through the 2003 season after Delaware State lost their first six games. Blacknall played college football for North Carolina A&T Aggies at North Carolina A&T University under the guidance of Willie Jeffries. Blacknall lettered at A&T from 1968 to 1971, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1975. Blacknall was mentor to Anthony Jones, who had played for Wichita State under his guidance and recruited Blacknall to Morehouse in 1999.
The 1987 Howard Bison football team represented Howard University as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) during the 1987 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Willie Jeffries, the Bison compiled an overall record of 9–1, with a conference record of 5–0, and finished as MEAC champion. At the conclusion of the season, the Bison were also recognized as black college national champion.