Sport(s) Football, basketball Name Henry Kean Overall 166-33-9 (football) | 1944-1954 Tennessee State 1931-1942 Kentucky State Died 1955 | |
 | ||
Henry Arthur Kean (1894 – December 12, 1955) was an American college football coach best known for his tenure as head coach at Kentucky State University from 1931 to 1942. At Kentucky State, Kean's teams won four black college football national championships and ten straight Midwestern Athletic Association championships. His lifetime coaching record was an impressive 166–33–9, with a winning percentage of .819.
Contents
Kentucky State
Kean was the sixth head football at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky and he held that position for 12seasons, from 1931 until 1942. During his tenure as head coach at Kentucky State, he led the team to four Black College National Football championships and ten straight Midwestern Athletic Association championships. His coaching record at Kentucky State was 73–17–6.
Tennessee State
Kean moved to Tennessee State University in 1943 and led the Tigers to five football national titles. Kean was the 11th head football coach for the Tigers in Nashville, Tennessee and he held that position for 11 seasons, from 1944 until 1954. His coaching record at Tennessee State was 93–16–3.
Henry Kean also coached basketball at Tennessee State from 1944 to 1949 and from 1950 to 1951. As head coach, he recorded a record of 108–26. In 1948–49, the Tigers went undefeated finishing with a record of 24 wins. The Tigers scored 1,765 points and allowed only 977 points by their opponents. The 1948–49 is Tennessee State's only undefeated team.
Kean was inducted into the Tennessee State Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.
Personal life
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Kean held college degrees from both Indiana University and Fisk University, and taught mathematics at Louisville's Central High School. He died at the age of 61, on December 12, 1955, at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.