1919–1921 Howard Name Edward Hurt 1929–1959 Morgan State Role Coach | 1929–1947 Morgan State Positions End 1929–1970 Morgan State | |
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Sport(s) Football, basketball, track Born February 12, 1900
Brookneal, Virginia ( 1900-02-12 ) 1925–1928 Virginia Seminary & College Died March 24, 1989, Balti, Maryland, United States Education Howard University, Columbia University | ||
Morgan State's Hurts Gymnasium
Edward Paulette Hurt (February 12, 1900 – March 24, 1989) was the head football coach, the head basketball coach and the head track coach at Morgan State College, in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1929 to 1959. In these sports, Hurt's teams won 33 Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships and produced 2 NFL Hall of Famers and an Olympic gold medal winner. Hurt also served as the school's athletic director from 1958 to 1970. He was inducted into the USA National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975 and the HBCU Hall of Fame in 1978.
Contents
- Morgan States Hurts Gymnasium
- Early life
- Coaching career
- Morgan football
- Track
- Basketball
- Death and legacy
- Awards and honors
- References
Early life
Hurt was born in Brookneal, Virginia. He attended Lincoln University and later graduated from Howard University with an A.B. degree in 1921. The slightly muscled, 150-pound Hurt played football at both schools and was named an All-American at Howard. Hurt also graduated from Columbia University with a M.S. degree in physical education. On August 13, 1922, Hurt married G. Beatrice Reid. The newlywed couple had to postpone honeymoon plans as Hurt had also landed a job in Lynchburg, Virginia to start his teaching career.
Coaching career
Hurt's coaching career began at the Virginia Theological Seminary and College in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1921 where he was hired as a mathematics teacher and doubled as an assistant football coach. He became the head coach there in 1925 and served in that capacity until he moved to Baltimore in 1929. During his stay, his football teams posted a 15-11-4 record and his basketball team won 2 CIAA championships.
Morgan football
Hurt took over the Morgan Bears football team in 1929. The next year his teams won the first of the 14 CIAA championships they would win with him at the helm. More importantly, Hurt built a program that allowed black athletes to showcase their talents where such a venue had been non-existent before. From 1931 to 1938 Hurt coached the Bears to a 54-game streak without a single loss. During his tenure, Morgan's football teams completed 11 seasons undefeated and, in the 1943 season, opponents failed to score a single point against the Bears. Hurt's success as a football coach was in part due to his mathematics background. He would often diagram plays on the backs of envelopes or milk cartons as the games unfolded. Discipline was also a key. During a halftime speech, when his team trailed by two touchdowns, Hurt angrily kick at a wooden crate upon which one of his big tackles was sitting. He kicked it so hard, his foot got stuck, but nobody on the team cracked a smile. Hurt is a member of the HBCU coaches Hall of Fame and two of his players, Len Ford and Rosey Brown, have been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. In 1952 Morgan named its then new $1 million gymnasium facility after him.
Track
From 1929 to 1970, Hurt also coached the track team at Morgan. By the 1950s the Morgan track team was drawing national and international attention. At the 1950 Penn Relays, Hurt's foursome, Sam LaBeach, Bob Tyler, Bill Brown and George Rhoden, won the mile relay in 3:13.6, which broke the Penn Relays' record that had stood for 56 years. Hurt's teams won 13 CIAA Track and Field Championships. Those teams also produced 8 NCAA champions, 12 AAU individual champions, 3 NCAA relay champions, 6 AAU relay champions, 1 Olympic gold-medalist (George Rhoden), 1 Olympic bronze-medalist (Josh Culbreath) and 11 individual or relay championships at the Penn Relays. Hurt was also on the coaching staffs at both the 1959 Pan American Games and the 1964 Olympic Games.
Basketball
Hurt coached the Morgan State University basketball team from 1929 to 1947, winning 4 CIAA championships. Three of those championships came consecutively in 1931, 1932 and 1933. From 1930 to 1947 Hurt coached the Morgan cagers to a 143-57 record, with the 1930, 1932, 1935 and 1945 teams going undefeated.
Death and legacy
Hurt died on March 24, 1989. His memorial service was held one week later on the campus of Morgan State University. His interment was completed at the Arbutus Memorial Park in southwest Baltimore County, Maryland. Hurt was survived by his wife Beatrice, one brother and three sisters. In addition to the Hurt Gymnasium, named is his honor in 1952, a scholarship fund was established in the name of Edward and Beatrice Hurt and the "Eddie Hurt Invitational track meet" is held annually at the university.