Fifty great Black high school sports coaches from the segregation era

For close to 50 years, sandwiched between two landmark Supreme Court cases, the segregation era saw high schools sports for Black teams labor in obscurity with little recognition by media outlets for the talented athletes and influential coaches who starred in second-rate facilities and hand-me-down uniforms.

The 1896 court case Plessy v. Ferguson opened the door for "separate but equal" schools that segregated white students and Black students. All-Black schools began participating in sports around the 1920s with state governing body associations forming in mostly Southern states. The Black schools featured some of the greatest coaches in high school history, but often their exploits were buried deep in the sports pages, if they were covered at all.

Not until the Brown v. The Board of Education ruling in 1954 did the nation recognize that separate was not necessarily equal and states began the long trek toward integration that finally concluded for the majority of the United States in the late 1960s. But even then, many of those coaches found themselves out of a job or forced to take an assistant job when consolidation closed the former Black school.

In honor of Black History Month, MaxPreps is taking a look at 50 of the greatest coaches of the segregation era. The list is totally subjective and there are likely hundreds of other coaches who could be included. However, the coaches presented certainly belong in any conversation about the segregation era's finest coaches.

Coaches on the list had to be active for at least a few years during the segregation period in their state. Coaching past the segregation era was allowed as long as the first criteria was met. In many cases, complete statistics and coaching records were unavailable due to spotty reporting of their accomplishments by the media.


Leslie "L.C." Baker, Washington (Atlanta)
Baker's Booker T. Washington teams ruled the GIA in football and basketball. He won 222 football games in his 37-year career (222-30-9) and added another 289 wins in basketball. He had 17 undefeated teams, according to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. His teams won state titles in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958.

William Bethel, Middleton (Tampa, Fla.)
Bethel guided the school's football and basketball teams in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, including two runner-up finishes in the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools in 1946 and 1947. He had a basketball record of 551-88 and his football teams went 146-72.

Herman Boone, T.C. Williams (Alexandria, Va.)
Boone is most famous for coaching the T.C. Williams team that finished No. 2 in the nation in 1971 and was immortalized in the Denzel Washington vehicle "Remember the Titans." However, Boone also excelled at E.J . Hayes (N.C.) in the 1960s, where he went 99-8 and his 1966 teams was regarded as one of the top teams in the nation. In nine games, Hayes scored 540 points and gave up 26. Quarterback Ricky Lanier was one of the best in the nation, tossing 38 touchdown passes. Boone, who died in December 2019 at the age of 84, won 13 state championships and had a career record of 63-18 while at T.C. Williams.

Russell Blunt, Hillside (Durham, N.C.)
Born in Massachusetts, Blunt spent the majority of his life in North Carolina coaching track at Hillside. He reportedly won 10 track and field state championships, seven indoor state crowns and at one point had a streak of dual-meet wins that stretched over 13 years. He also coached basketball, sending players like John Lucas and Rodney Rogers off to careers in the NBA. His coaching career covered six decades and the football stadium at Hillside is named in his honor.

Collin Briggs, Wheatley (Houston)
The dominant basketball team in Texas during Briggs' time as head coach, he led Wheatley to 13 state championships and had a career record of 608-55. He sent three teams to the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools, finishing as runner-up in 1952. In 1968,  the first season of integrated play in Texas, Briggs' team went 36-0 and won the state championship.

Charles Brown, Booker T. Washington (Conroe, Texas)
Brown produced two of the most dominating football teams in the Prairie View Interscholastic League during the 1960s. Both his 1960 and 1965 teams went undefeated. He also led Washington to the championship game in 1961. His teams won five district championships between 1960 and 1965.

William H. Brown, Parker (Birmingham, Ala.)
Known as "Cap," Brown guided Parker basketball teams and compiled an 890-312 record in 38 seasons. He was the all-time winningest coach in Alabama when he died in 1996. He led Parker to a 43-1 record in 1964, the most wins ever by an Alabama basketball team, and a national championship at the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools.

A.B. Calvin, Scipio Jones (North Little Rock, Ark.)
Jones was the dominant Arkansas basketball power during the 1950s, winning four straight state championships at one point and advancing to the championship game of the National Basketball Tournament of Black High Schools in 1959 before losing by four points to Pearl. Calvin's top player from that time was Eddie Miles, who played nine seasons in the NBA.

Mark Cardwell, Kelly Miller (Clarksburg, W.Va.)
A longtime coach at West Virginia State College, Cardwell got his start at Kelly Miller, where he coached from 1925 to 1944. He led the football team to six state championships and the basketball team to five. In 1935 and 1936, Cardwell led Kelly Miller to the championship game of the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools, falling both times to Gary Roosevelt.

Ray Crowe, Crispus Attucks (Indianapolis)
Crowe coached only briefly at Crispus Attucks (1950-57) in Indianapolis, but he made his mark with a pair of teams ranked as the best in the nation in 1955 and 1956. Led by future basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, Crowe's 1955 team became the first all-Black school to win an Indiana state championship with a 31-1 record. The following year Crispus Attucks won another state title going 31-0. Both teams were ranked No. 1 in the nation by the National Sports News Service. Crowe resigned in 1957 with a career record of 179-20. He spent his later years as a member of the state house of representatives and on the Indianapolis City Council. He can also be seen as the coach of the South Bend Central Bears in the movie "Hoosiers."

Arthur "Buddy" Davis, Booker T. Washington Magnet (Montgomery, Ala.)
Davis is one of the most successful coaches in Alabama history with a winning percentage of 90.3 percent. In 16 seasons at Booker T. Washington, starting in 1954, Davis went 139-15-2. His 1963 team was his best, going 10-0 and outscoring opponents 246-30, according to Alabama High School Football History.

Walter Day, Jackson (Corsicana, Texas)
Day coached at three schools during the PVIL era, finishing with Terrell from 1961 to 1968. He won three PVIL championships while at Corsicana Jackson in the 1950s and took Terrell to the state finals in 1965 before losing to Yates. In retirement, Day published several books chronicling the history of football during the PVIL era.

Fred Dyles, Gibbs (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Dyles joined Gibbs, an all-Black school, in 1964 and guided its first state championship in 1966. The following year under Dyles' watch, Gibbs became the first all-Black basketball team to win an FHSAA state championship. He won a state title again in 1969. He retired in 1993 as the winningest coach in Florida with a record of 674-236.

Russell Ellington, Beach (Savannah, Ga.)
Ellington coached at multiple levels including high school, college and with the Harlem Globetrotters. At Beach, Ellington went 482-47 between 1962 and 1976. His teams won five state championships, including the first year of integration in 1967. He coached the Globetrotters from 1984 to 1993.

William Falls, Crispus Attucks (Hopkinsville, Ky.)
A member of the Kentucky Basketball Hall of Fame, Falls coached Crispus Attucks from 1935-67 and led the team to a record of 663-233. He won a pair of state championships and took Attucks to the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools four times.

Edward Finley, Bedford County Training (Shelbyville, Tenn.)
Finley coached one of the most successful football teams in the nation during the 1940s. Coaching at Bedford County Training from 1937 to 1948, Finley led the team to a 78-0-4 record that included a streak of 32 straight shutouts.

Eddie Flint, St. Augustine (New Orleans)
Flint turned St. Augustine football into a statewide power during the 1950s and 60s as he led the team to back-to-back undefeated state championships in 1965 and 1966. His team also won a state title in 1963, defeating his alma mater Xavier Prep in the process.

T. Herman Graves, Howard (Atlanta)
Graves won 138 games as the football coach at Howard, making him one of the city's winningest coaches. He was also the school's basketball coach and his top player was future Hall of Fame guard Walt Frazier.

Leroy Hemphill, Booker T. Washington (Cushing, Okla.)
Cushing won six Oklahoma Class C state championships and his 1951 team reached the finals of the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools. According to The Oklahoman, Hemphill won nearly 94 percent of his games.

Marion "Chief" Henley, Carver (Picayune, Miss.)
Henley coached at George Washington Carver from 1957 to 1970, posting an amazing record of 116-8-2. His team also posted a 64-game unbeaten streak with a 50-game winning streak. According to his bio on the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame website, Henley did not have an assistant coach in his 14 seasons at Carver.

Raymond Hollie, Booker T. Washington (Dallas)
Hollie led Booker T. Washington to eight PVIL championship games and captured three state titles with one co-championship. One of his top players was MLB Hall of Fame shortstop Ernie Banks.

Robert Hughes, Dunbar (Fort Worth, Texas)

Felix "Zoo" James, Landry (New Orleans)
James posted state championships in football and track and field while at Gaudet and Landry high schools. He had a .670 winning percentage with six city titles and one state title in football while at the two schools and he also had five state championships in track. Among his top football players was NFL defensive lineman Rich "Tombstone" Jackson.

Calvin Jones, Carver (Atlanta)
Jones was one of the most successful basketball coaches in Georgia. He got his start in the mid-1960s, winning an Atlanta city championship in 1966. The following year, after Georgia integrated, his Carver team went 27-2 and became the first Black AA school to win a GHSA state title. In 1969, his team went 30-1. During that stretch when his team went 107-9, Carver never played a home game because it didn't have a gym. Jones' teams practiced on a dirt court behind the school. He had a career record of 886-224.

William Kean, Central (Louisville, Ky.)
The grandfather of NBA standout Allan Houston, Kean coached at Louisville Central from 1922 to 1958. He had an astounding record of 856-83. His teams won the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools in 1952, 1955 and 1956 as well as five state championships. Despite retiring over 60 years ago, Kean still ranks No. 3 all-time in Kentucky for career wins.

Earl Kitchings Sr., Gilbert (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Kitchings coached one of the most talented teams in Florida during the segregation era as his Gilbert team in 1958 won the first Black football state championship with an 11-0 record while outscoring opponents 254-43. Future NFL Hall of Famer receiver and Olympic Gold Medalist Bob Hayes was a member of the team. He was also the first coach at Raines, where the stadium is named in his honor.

Ronald Lawson, Cameron (Nashville, Tenn.)
Lawson had a short coaching career at Cameron, but he made his mark on history. A standout at Pearl (Nashville) in the 1950s where he played on teams that went 69-4 over his career, Lawson went on to coach at rival Cameron and led his team to a win over his alma mater, ending Pearl's 52-game win streak. His 1971 team went 32-0 and finished No. 3 in the nation. He won back-to-back state championships, going 65-1 over that stretch. His career record was 141-18.

Thad Madden, Huntington (Va.)
Madden's football and track and field teams dominated during his tenure from 1943 to 1971. He had 28 straight winning seasons with seven Virginia Interscholastic Association championships. He posted a record of 251-114-6. In track and field, Madden's squads won 19 VIA state championships.

Vernon McCain, Douglass (Oklahoma City)
McCain had a very brief high school coaching career before moving on to coach at the college level. From 1942-44, his teams went 24-1-1 with a pair of state championships. He also led Douglass to a state championship in basketball in 1945. He later coached at Princess Anne of Tennessee State and Maryland of Eastern Shores and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

Moses Miller, Douglass (Oklahoma City)
Miller has had two stadiums at Douglass named after him. The first was built in 1956 and was demolished in 2003 to make way for a new stadium in 2007. Miller led Douglass to eight state championships in the 1940s and 50s and guided Douglass to a 46-game win streak that ended in 1955.

James Moorer, Sims (Iniont, S.C.)
Moorer led Sims to 96 straight wins in the 1950s and his teams reportedly didn't give up a touchdown in three of those nine seasons. His career coaching record in football was an unbelievable 135-3-5. He also rarely lost in basketball and baseball, posting records of 187-32 and 160-15, respectively.

Clifton Ozen, Hebert (Beaumont, Texas), now known as Ozen High School
Ozen was an All-American in college and came back home to coach football at Hebert between 1959 and 1975. He had a record of 147-30-4 with two state championships. A member of the PVIL Hall of Fame, the school was eventually renamed in honor of the longtime coach.

Andrew "Pat" Patterson, Yates (Houston)
Patterson helped to organize the PVIL, which organized Black high school sports in Texas between 1939 and 1966. Patterson had a career record of 184-61-9 with five state championships.

Nathaniel "Traz" Powell, Carver (Coral Gables, Fla.)
The stadium at Miami-Dade College is named after Powell, who coached in the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association from 1949 to 1969 and posted a record of 167-37-3. He won five undefeated state football championships at Carver and then moved to Mays in 1966 and won another football championship.

Elmer Redd, Dunbar (Lufkin, Texas)
Dunbar dominated in the 1960s, winning titles in 1964, 1966 and 1967. Redd had a record of 178-38-3 in football and also won 13 district titles and two state championships in track and field. He left Dunbar in 1970 to coach at the University of Houston.

Harvey Reid, Fike (Wilson, N.C.)
Reid finished his career as the all-time winningest basketball coach in North Carolina with a record of 816-208 in 42 years at four schools. While at Frederick Douglas, Reid's teams won 69 straight games between 1961 and 1963. He also won seven state championships and 20 league titles in his career.

Cornelius Ridley, Pearl (Nashville, Tenn.)
Ridley coached 25 seasons at Pearl, his alma mater, and led it to championships at the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools in 1960 and 1963. He also led Pearl to the state title in 1966 in the first integrated state tournament. He concluded his career with a record of 684-171 with five state championships.

Les Ritcherson, Moore (Waco, Texas)
Ritcherson posted a 132-28-3 record in 16 seasons at Moore. He won two state championships and two co-state championships. After stepping down at Moore, Ritcherson went to the University of Wisconsin and became the first Black assistant coach to coach football at a predominantly white school.

S.T. Roach, Dunbar (Louisville, Ky.)
Roach's Dunbar basketball teams dominated in the all-Black leagues in Kentucky prior to integration, posting a record of 383-11. Once integrated into the KHSAA, Roach's teams sported a record of 227-50 with six regional championships.

Joe Robichaux, St. Elizabeth (Chicago)
An influential player in Chicago politics under Mayor Richard Daley in the 1960s and 70s, Robichaux got his start as a basketball coach at St. Elizabeth in the late 1940s. He led his team to three straight championships at the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools from 1949 to 1951 and then won a fourth in 1957. His 1950 team went 38-2. He later went on to coach the women's national track team in the early 1970s.

Maxie Robinson, Armstrong (Richmond, Va.)
Robinson coached 34 years at Armstrong and led the team to 13 conference championships in basketball with five state championships. He had a record of 543-154.

Dorsey Sims, Riverside (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Sims coached at five different schools from 1958 to 1986, most notably, perhaps, Riverside (Chattanooga), which won 66 games in a row and captured a pair of state championships. Sims had a career record of 654-200 with four state championships. According to his Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association Hall of Fame bio, Simms never played a day of organized basketball.

John Smith, Gary Roosevelt (Gary, Ind.)
One of the most successful basketball coaches in the 1930s, Smith was also extremely influential in the establishment of the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools. Roosevelt won five straight National tournaments from 1933-36 and 1939 (the tournament was not held in 1937 and 1938). He also helped to re-establish the tournament after a two-year lapse, bringing the event to Gary. He was then elected president of the National Interscholastic Athletic Association, which sponsored the national tournament.

Willie Ray Smith, Charlton-Pollard (Beaumont, Texas)
Smith coached from 1942 to 1975, including 19 years at Charlton-Pollard in Beaumont. The father of NFL defensive lineman and actor Bubba Smith, Willie Ray won 235 games in his career and a pair of PVIL state championships. His other sons, Tody and Willie Ray Jr., also played in college with Tody also reaching the NFL.

Odis Spencer, Spencer (Columbus, Ga.)
Spencer won four state championships and 10 Georgia Interscholastic Association regional championships during his 23-year coaching career at William Henry Spencer High School. He sported a record of 154-54-14.

Joe Washington, Lincoln (Port Arthur, Texas)
Washington coached at Bay City and Port Arthur Lincoln during the PVIL era, but he also coached 27 seasons in the UIL and won 137 games. He won three straight district titles in the early 1970s, led by his son Joe Washington Jr., who went on to an NFL career with the Baltimore Colts.

Ted Washington, Booker T. Washington (New Orleans)
Washington coached Booker T. for 22 seasons and posted a record of 462-60 with two state championships. He also won a pair of state titles in baseball and is a member of the All State Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame.

Taft Watson, Terrell Bay School (Marion, S.C.)
A member of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, Watson once won both the boys and girls basketball state championship on the same day in 1994. He coached for 47 years, 38 of them at Terrell's Bay High School. He won two state titles with the boys team and five with the girls and had a combined total of 1,200 career wins.

Obie Williams, Wheatley (Houston)
A longtime track coach at Wheatley, Williams led the school to six state championships and his 1948 team was named mythical national champions. He was also a longtime assistant coach for the football team, including 1970-74 when he helped coach NFL cornerback Lester Hayes.

Seymour Williams, Booker T. Washington (Tulsa, Okla.)
Perhaps no coach had more success during the segregation era than Williams, who coached football, basketball and track teams at Booker T. Washington. On the gridiron, Williams won 290 games, lost 23 and tied 11. His teams also won 19 state championships in the Oklahoma Interscholastic Athletic Association while going undefeated 14 times. On the hardwood, Williams led his team to 13 association championships and five championships at the National Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools. His track teams won six national titles, according to the Tulsa World. The stadium at Washington is named in his honor.