South Carolina State University Bulldogs Coach Emeritus Willie Jeffries will be inducted into College Football Hall of Fame. Coach Jeffries had a career record of 179-132-6 and was the first black coach of a Division I school, Wichita State in 1979. The induction ceremony is July 16-17 in South Bend, Indiana at the College Football Hall of Fame.Willie Jeffries spent a lifetime knocking down doors in the world of college football. Tuesday, the doors of the College Football Hall of Fame opened for him.
The former S.C. State football coach was named one of six new members of the 2010 Division Hall of Fame by the National Football Foundation. The Division Hall honors players and coaches from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III and NAIA. Jeffries, who had two stints at S.C. State during a coaching career in which he won 179 games at four schools from 1973 to 2001, was thrilled by the news.
"This is an honor for me, my former players, South Carolina State and all the schools I've coached," he said. "This is about the top one a coach can receive." Jeffries won the most games in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference history, captured three historically black college national titles and was the first African-American head coach at an FBS school when Wichita State hired him in 1979. Jeffries, the only person to coach against both Bear Bryant and Eddie Robinson, recognized at the time that he was a pioneer.
"Once I got there (to Wichita), after about a week or two, I said, 'Oh, my goodness, I am a trailblazer.' There was a lot of weight on my shoulders," he said. "But I found out as I went across Kansas that people are people, and they will treat you well according to how you present yourself."
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