[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 143 (Wednesday, October 24, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO MR. WILLIE JEFFRIES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 24, 2001

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join 
me in paying tribute to Mr. Willie Jeffries, who is retiring after 42 
years of coaching, including 19 seasons at my alma mater as head coach 
of the South Carolina State University Bulldogs.
  ``Jeff,'' the winningest football coach in South Carolina State's 
105-year history and owner of more Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference 
(MEAC) victories than any other coach is already enshrined in the South 
Carolina, South Carolina State University, and MEAC halls of fame. 
That's very impressive for a kid from Union, South Carolina who 
matriculated--a word he would claim not to know the meaning of--at 
South Carolina State in the late 1950's to earn a civil engineering 
degree. Just months after graduating from South Carolina State in 1960, 
Jeffries began working as an Assistant Coach at Barr Street High School 
in Lancaster. He then moved on to become Head Coach at Granard High 
School in Gaffney, compiling a 65-7-2 record and winning three 
consecutive Class AAA state championships from 1964-1966.
  Jeffries began his collegiate career in 1968 at North Carolina A & T 
as an assistant under Hornsby Howell. He later coached under Johnny 
Majors at the University of Pittsburgh before returning to his alma 
mater, South Carolina State for his first collegiate head coaching 
position in 1973. He turned a floundering program around, going 50-13-4 
in six seasons, before leaving for Wichita State where he became the 
first black Head Coach at a Division I school. Five-years after making 
his historic trek at Wichita State, Jeffries returned to the NIEAC in 
1984 as Head Coach at Howard University. Jeffries returned home to 
South Carolina State for a second tenure in 1989.
  Apart from his enviable record, six MEAC titles, and two Black 
National Football championships, Jeffries has earned the love and 
respect of many in South Carolina as a teacher and mentor to countless 
young men and women. In addition, Coach Jeffries has contributed to the 
development of many young men who earn a college degree, as South 
Carolina State graduates 70 percent of its football players, more than 
any other historically black college and university. Jeffries has 
produced a multitude of players who have distinguished themselves in 
the professional ranks including Robert Porcher, Harry Carson, Donnie 
Shell, and Charlie Brown. Jeffries has coached against some of the 
game's legends such as Bear Bryant and Eddie Robinson.
  The word legend hardly speaks for what Willie Jeffries has done for 
South Carolina and South Carolina State University. He is a 
trailblazer; a man who set the stage for many black men and inspired 
them to do many things--mainly coach. If a man's worth is judged by the 
number of people he's touched, then Coach Jeffries has indeed lived a 
wealthy life. Mr. Speaker, please join me in honoring a good friend and 
loyal supporter Coach Willie Jeffries, for his many years of hard work, 
outstanding leadership, and service as a role model to South Carolina, 
South Carolina State and the nation.

                          ____________________