Trailblazers: From Black Colleges to the NFL

Banks' book teaches history

Oree Banks has stood among giants.

In 30-plus years of coaching football, he has studied and coached with some of the all-time greats. Now, he's written about those giants. His new book, "Trailblazers: From Black Colleges to the NFL," recounts the exploits of the first seven black coaches inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame and some of the players they coached.

In addition to Banks himself, who coached at West Virginia State and South Carolina State, the first coaches to enter the NAIA hall were Alonzo "Jake" Gaither, Florida A&M; Fred "Pop" Long, Paul Quinn College, Wiley College and Prairie View College; Harry Jefferson, Bluefield State, North Carolina A&T, Virginia State and Hampton College; Arnette W. Mumford, Jarvis Christian, Southern, Bishop and Texas College; Billy Nicks, Morris Brown and Prairie View A&M; and Eddie Robinson, Grambling University.

Banks, 67, coached at West Virginia State for seven seasons. He is retired from coaching but still teaches. He also conducts drug awareness seminars and has visited every college in the state to talk with student-athletes about drugs. In his quest to write the book, Banks spent three years doing research and traveling to the various colleges where the coaches worked. He thought it was important to tell the story of the struggles of black athletes and coaches in these historically black colleges in the days before desegregation.

"Today's young people need to learn the history of these coaches," he said. "These men all have a story to tell." He said he was surprised by some of the things he learned.

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Oree Banks is an associate professor, Health and Human Performance at West Virginia State University. The former head football coach is a member of the NAIA Hall of Fame and conducts drug awareness seminars for student athletes throughout the United States. Banks was head coach at West Virginia State and South Carolina State. He was one of the first full-time assistant coaches at the University of South Carolina and the University of Virginia. Banks was also an assistant at Wisconsin and at Grambling State University, during a 30 year coaching career.