Throwback: Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils, Coach Archie "the Gunslinger" Cooley

COACH ARCHIE "THE GUNSLINGER" COOLEY
SWAC HALL OF FAME 2007

ITTA BENA, Mississippi -- Long before there was a gulf coast offense, the pistol, the west coast offense, the spread and the 2-minute drill, there was Archie Cooley -- a gunslinger of a football coach at Mississippi Valley State.  Some described his coaching style as gimmicky, suspect and unorthodox. 

That was the published opinion of the mainstream coaching establishment, but those that played black college football knew that Cooley's wide-open offense was light-years ahead of all others.  Knowledgeable football experts would later say, the gunslinger was an offensive genius who never received full credit for his offensive creations. 

Cooley was noted for designing the "Satellite Express" passing offense, which was a 60 minute no huddle offense, featuring five wide receivers and a playbook with over 200 plays. This was all before the invention of slow motion video, HD-TV, flat screen televisions, i-phones, tablets, ipads and laptop computers.

Cooley produced the greatest player in NFL history -- wide receiver, Jerry Lee Rice and a "Satellite" quarterback --Willie Totten, who set eighteen NCAA passing and offensive records. In the 1984 season, Totten threw for 5,043 yards and 58 touchdowns and then threw for 39 touchdowns in 1985, without Rice, averaging 51 points per game.

Legend has it that in 1984, Totten and the Delta Devils team of hard working country boys bused 21 hours from Itta Bena to Topeka, Kansas to play Washburn University. It was a no-contest with the Delta Devils demolishing the Ichabods 77-15.

 

Prior to arriving at MVSU in 1980 as the head coach, believe it or not, the gunslinger had been a defensive assistant at Alcorn State and Tennessee State. Within three years, Valley was the number one team in all of 1-AA (FCS) Football. 

 

One of our all-time favorite game was The Day The Godfather Did In The Gunslinger, i.e., Alcorn State vs. Mississippi Valley State before 63,808 at Mississippi Memorial Stadium in Jackson. The atmosphere was set--with two undefeated teams, ranked No. 4 and 5 in all of 1-AA football, offense vs. defense, and the Gunslinger vs. the Godfather.  Here is what Sports Illustrated (SI) had to say about this game and the Gunslinger.

We were very lucky to find a video of this 1984 contest that is described as one of the best SWAC football game ever, with commentary by JSU legendary coach W.C. Gorden. 

In 2007, Archie "the Gunslinger" Cooley was inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame.



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