Edward P. Hurt

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 two Pro Football 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[1] and the HBCU Hall of Fame in 1978.[2]

Edward P. Hurt
Biographical details
Born(1900-02-12)February 12, 1900
Brookneal, Virginia
DiedMarch 24, 1989(1989-03-24) (aged 89)
Baltimore, Maryland
Playing career
Football
1919–1921Howard
Position(s)End
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1925–1928Virginia Seminary
1929–1959Morgan State
Basketball
1929–1947Morgan State
Track
1929–1970Morgan State
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1958–1970Morgan State
Head coaching record
Overall186–63–26 (football)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football
14 CIAA (1930, 1932–1935, 1937, 1940–1944, 1946, 1949, 1956)

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.[3] 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.[4]

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 two Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (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.[5] More importantly, Hurt built a program that allowed black athletes to showcase their talents where such a venue had been non-existent before.[4] From 1931 to 1938 Hurt coached the Bears to a 54-game streak without a single loss.[6] 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.[7] 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.[4] Hurt is a member of the HBCU coaches Hall of Fame [2] and two of his players, Len Ford and Rosey Brown, have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1952 Morgan named its then new $1 million gymnasium facility after him.[5][6]

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.[4] 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.[3] Hurt was also on the coaching staffs at both the 1959 Pan American Games and the 1964 Olympic Games.[8]

Basketball

Hurt coached the Morgan State University basketball team from 1929 to 1947, winning four CIAA championships. Three of those championships came consecutively in 1931, 1932 and 1933.[7] From 1930 to 1947 Hurt coached the Morgan Bears to a 143–57 record, with the 1930, 1932, 1935 and 1945 teams going undefeated.[9]

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.[3] 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.

Awards and honors
The Edward P. Hurt Gymnasium on the campus of Morgan State University

Head coaching record

Football
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Virginia Seminary Dragons (Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1925–1928)
1925 Virginia Seminary 4–1–23–1–12nd
1926 Virginia Seminary 3–4–13–3–14th
1927 Virginia Seminary 3–4–13–2–14th
1928 Virginia Seminary 3–3–23–2–23rd
Virginia Seminary: 13–12–612–8–5
Morgan Bears (Independent) (1929)
1929 Morgan 2–5–1
Morgan / Morgan State Bears (Colored/Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1930–1959)
1930 Morgan 8–17–11st
1931 Morgan 5–24–23rd
1932 Morgan 7–0–16–0–11st
1933 Morgan 9–08–01st
1934 Morgan 5–0–35–0–21st
1935 Morgan 8–07–01st
1936 Morgan 6–0–25–0–22nd
1937 Morgan 7–06–01st
1938 Morgan 5–1–15–1–12nd
1939 Morgan State 3–3–22–3–28th
1940 Morgan State 7–0–16–0–11st
1941 Morgan State 6–16–11st
1942 Morgan State 6–1–15–1–11st
1943 Morgan State 5–02–01st
1944 Morgan State 6–0–14–01st
1945 Morgan State 5–25–25th
1946 Morgan State 8–07–01st
1947 Morgan State 5–2–15–2–15th
1948 Morgan State 5–35–3T–5th
1949 Morgan State 8–07–01st
1950 Morgan State 6–0–25–0–23rd
1951 Morgan State 3–53–410th
1952 Morgan State 4–4–14–2T–4th
1953 Morgan State 6–25–13rd
1954 Morgan State 6–34–28th
1955 Morgan State 6–25–1T–5th
1956 Morgan State 5–2–15–0–1T–1st
1957 Morgan State 5–3–14–2–16th
1958 Morgan State 5–35–23rd
1959 Morgan State 1–6–11–6T–17th
Morgan / Morgan State: 173–51–20148–36–15
Total:186–63–26
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

References
  1. "National Track and Field Hall of Fame". USA Track and Field. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
  2. "Hall Of Fame Induction List". The Onnidan Group. Archived from the original on June 2, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
  3. Service Of Triumph for Edward Paulette Hurt. Joe McIver, archivist (special ed.). Baltimore, Maryland: Nutter Funeral Home. March 31, 1989. p. 3.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Wade, Herman L. (June 1, 2004). Run From There. United States: Word Association. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-932205-78-7. Retrieved July 5, 2008. The arrival of the black athlete on the national sports scene in the 1940s and 50s goes directly back to Edward P. Hurt. There is not a single black sports figure in the world today who is not in some small way in the debt of Coach Hurt.
  5. "Morgan State University Directory". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  6. "The Edward P. Hurt Gymnasium Continues a Tradition" (PDF). Morgan Magazine. Spring 2004. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
  7. Jennifer, Jacob (March 22, 2002). "Morgan Legend: Eddie P. Hurt". The Spokesman (University's newspaper). Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
  8. "Edward Hurt". USA Track and Field. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
  9. "MSU Year-By-Year Results (1930 - Present)" (PDF). Office of Sports Information-Morgan State University. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
  10. "Hurt Gymnasium". Morgan state University. Archived from the original on August 3, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
  11. "Edward P. Hurt, USTFCCCA Class of 2004". Retrieved July 11, 2011.
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