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Fred T. Long

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Fred T. Long
Biographical details
Born(1896-01-22)January 22, 1896
Decatur, Illinois, U.S.
DiedMarch 23, 1966(1966-03-23) (aged 70)
near Tyler, Texas, U.S.
Playing career
Football
1915–1917Millikin
Baseball
1916–1918Millikin
1920–1921Detroit Stars
1925Indianapolis ABCs
1926Detroit Stars
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1921–1922Paul Quinn
1923–1947Wiley
1948Prairie View A&M
1949–1954Texas College
1956–1965Wiley
Head coaching record
Overall224–145–31
Bowls3–4–1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 black college national (1928, 1932, 1945)
11 SWAC (1922–1923, 1927–1930, 1932, 1944–1945, 1956–1957)

Fred Thomas "Pop" "Pops" "Big" Long (January 22, 1896 – March 23, 1966) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro leagues and a college football coach. He was the head football coach at four historically black colleges and universities in Texas between 1921 and 1965, compiling a career record of 224–145–31. He was the head coach at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, for 35 years from 1923 to 1947 and again from 1956 to 1965. He led the Wiley Wildcats football team to three black college football national championships, in 1928, 1932, and 1945.

Early life and education

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Fred Long was born in Decatur, Illinois, to Hinton A. "Cook" Long and his wife Idlean Long. He graduated from Decatur High School in 1913 and entered Millikin University in Decatur in the spring of 1915. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce and Finance in less than four years, becoming the first African American to graduate from Millikin University.[1] He was a star athlete while at Millikin, lettering in football (1915–1917) and baseball (1916–1918). The Long-Vanderburg Scholars Program at Millikin University is named for him and Millikin's first African-American female graduate, Marian Vanderburg.[2] He was joined at Millikin in the fall of 1915 by his brother Harry Long who had graduated from Decatur High School that spring. Fred entered the Army after graduation and served two years.

Professional baseball career

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In 1920, Fred Long became an outfielder for the Detroit Stars of the newly formed Negro National League. He returned to the Stars again in 1921 and one more season in 1926 as a reserve outfielder. He also played outfield for the Indianapolis ABCs during the 1925 season, a total of four seasons in the Negro National League.[3]

College coaching career

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Long's college football coaching career spanned 45 years, from 1921 to 1965. During that long career his teams captured several conference championships and at least a share of three black college football national championships in 1928, 1932, and 1945. During that same period he also served as athletic director for the colleges he worked for and often coached every sport those schools offered including track, baseball, basketball, tennis, and golf. He was elected to the presidency of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) on three occasions.[4] Long began his football coaching career at Paul Quinn College from 1921 to 1922, then continued at Wiley College located in Marshall, Texas, from 1923 to 1947. He coached at Prairie View A&M University in 1948 and at Texas College from 1949 to 1954. Long was fired from his post at Texas College in 1955 and succeeded by Vincent M. Gaines. In the fall of 1955, Long was working for the University Life Insurance Company of Dallas.[5]

Long returned to Wiley in 1956 as head football coach and athletic director.[6] His second stint there that lasted from 1956 to 1965. Long's overall record in 44 years as college football head coach was 224–145–31.[n 1]

In 1925, Long helped inaugurate the State Fair Classic during the State Fair of Texas matching his Wiley Wildcat team against the Langston Lions each year until 1929 when Langston was replaced by Prairie View. The game was always on Negro Day of the state fair and soon was drawing in excess of 20,000 fans to the Cottom Bowl. In 1948, after Long had left Wiley and was at Prairie View, he was honored at half-time of the game and given a Buick automobile by members of the Fred Long Anniversary committee to celebrate his then 25 years of coaching in the Southwestern Conference.[9]

On November 11, 1961, Long, with 215 coaching victories at the time, coached Wiley against Southern, led by Ace Mumford, who had 232 coaching victories, in the first known college football match-up in which both coaches had over 200 victories. Long's Wiley team won, 21–19.

The Fred Thomas Long Student Union building at Wiley is named in his honor.

The Fred Thomas Long Student Union building at Wiley College

Honors and death

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In 1962, Long was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame. He died of a heart attack, on March 23, 1966, near Tyler, Texas.[10]

Long became a charter member of the Millikin University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1970, the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame in 2001. On January 11, 2010, he was honored with the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)'s 2009 Trailblazer Award.[11]

Head coaching record

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Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Paul Quinn (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (1921–1922)
1921 Paul Quinn 1–2
1922 Paul Quinn 7–0–1 4–0–1 1st
Paul Quinn: 8–2–1
Wiley Wildcats (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (1923–1947)
1923 Wiley 6–1 4–1 1st
1924 Wiley 5–3
1925 Wiley 5–1–1
1926 Wiley 6–2 3–2 3rd
1927 Wiley 5–1–1 4–0–1 1st
1928 Wiley 9–0–1 5–0 1st
1929 Wiley 8–2 1st
1930 Wiley 8–1–1 1st
1931 Wiley 6–3–1
1932 Wiley 9–0 5–0 1st
1933 Wiley 9–2
1934 Wiley 5–4–1 1–2–1 5th
1935 Wiley 8–0–3 3–0–3 2nd W Prairie View
1936 Wiley 6–3–1 3–2–1 3rd
1937 Wiley 5–5–1 2–3–1 5th
1938 Wiley 6–3–2 2–3–1 T–4th
1939 Wiley 6–5 3–3 T–4th L Orange Blossom Classic
1940 Wiley 3–5–1 1–4–1 6th
1941 Wiley 0–6–1 0–5–1 T–6th
1942 Wiley 4–2
1943 Wiley 4–1–1 L Prairie View
1944 Wiley 8–1 5–1 T–1st W Prairie View
1945 Wiley 10–0 6–0 1st W Orange Blossom Classic
1946 Wiley 6–3–1 4–2 2nd T Angel Bowl
1947 Wiley 5–3–1 3–3–1 5th
Prairie View A&M Panthers (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (1948)
1948 Prairie View A&M 6–3–1 4–2–1 4th
Prairie View A&M: 6–3–1 4–2–1
Texas College Steers (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (1949–1954)
1949 Texas College 2–7–2 2–4–1 5th
1950 Texas College 1–9–1 1–5–1 7th
1951 Texas College 5–3–2 4–1–2 T–2nd L Steel
1952 Texas College 4–3–1 3–2–1 3rd
1953 Texas College 5–4 4–2 3rd
1954 Texas College 4–6 3–3 4th
Texas College: 21–32–6 17–17–5
Wiley Wildcats (Southwestern Athletic Conference) (1956–1965)
1956 Wiley 6–3–1 5–1 T–1st
1957 Wiley 10–0–1 6–0 1st
1958 Wiley 5–5 2–3 T–4th
1959 Wiley 2–9 0–7 8th L Prairie View
1960 Wiley 2–7 1–6 7th
1961 Wiley 4–4–1 2–4–1 6th
1962 Wiley 3–5–1 1–5–1 8th
1963 Wiley 4–5 2–5 T–6th
1964 Wiley 2–7 0–7 8th
1965 Wiley 1–7 0–7 8th
Wiley: 189–108–23
Total: 224–145–31
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) records credit Long as head coach at Texas College in 1955. The 1955 Texas College Steers football team compiled a record of 3–6, this the NCAA records Long's head coaching record as 227–151–31 over 45 seasons.[7][8]

References

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  1. ^ The James Millikin University Bulletin, Vol.XV No.5 May 1918
  2. ^ "Long-Vanderburg Scholars Program". Archived from the original on July 16, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
  3. ^ Pittsburgh Courier July 24, 1926 page 15 and The Chicago Defender "The Southwestern Wizard Maker of All-Americans" January 11, 1930 page 8
  4. ^ The Chicago Defender "Wiley Cats Ill; Call In 'Dr.' Long" 14 January 1956 page 18
  5. ^ "World Of Sports". Alabama Tribune. Montgomery, Alabama. September 30, 1955. p. 7. Retrieved June 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  6. ^ "Wiley Names Him Director Of Athletics". The New York Age. New York, New York. January 15, 1956. p. 9. Retrieved June 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  7. ^ "Coaching Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 189. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  8. ^ "NCAA Statistics". National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  9. ^ The Chicago Defender October 30, 1948, page 15
  10. ^ "Ex-Blue Athlete Fred Long Dies". The Decatur Review. Decatur, Illinois. March 24, 1966. p. 14. Retrieved June 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  11. ^ AFCA Press Release[permanent dead link]
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