Hoover J. Wright

Hoover J. Wright
Sport(s) Football
Biographical details
Born July 1928[1]
Place of birth Hebron, Maryland
Died March 7, 2003 (age 74)
Place of death Cypress, Texas
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1966-1979 Prairie View A&M
Head coaching record
Overall 31-67-2
Statistics
College Football Data Warehouse

Hoover J. Wright was an American football and track and field coach in the United States.

Contents

Football coaching career

Early coaching posts

Wright’s coaching career began at Shorter College in North Little Rock, Arkansas. At Shorter, he was head football coach, men's and women's basketball coach, and track coach. His next post was at Paul Quinn College where he was the athletic director and head football coach.[2]

Prairie View A&M

Wright was the ninth head college football coach for the Prairie View A&M University Panthers located in Prairie View, Texas and he held that position for ten seasons, from 1966 to 1968, and 1973 to 1979. His career coaching record at Prairie View was 31 wins, 67 losses, and 2 ties. As of the conclusion of the 2007 season, this ranks him third at Prairie View in total wins and 12th at Prairie View in winning percentage (.320).[3][4] He led the team to their last winning record in 2003[2] until the 2007 season under Coach Frazier.[5]

Track and field

Honors

Wright also found success as a track and field coach at Prairie View. He was the head coach of the programs for over 40 years and his teams secured two NAIA Indoor titles and one NAIA outdoor title.[6] In 2005, he was inducted into the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame.[7][8] The school has since honored him by naming their annual track meet after his legacy.[9]

He served as the meet referee of the NCAA National Championship track meet in 1987.[10] He was also placed in the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 1986 for his excellence as a coach.[11]

Overcoming tragedy

At age 71, Wright was seriously injured during a bus crash on the way to a track meet where four of his athletes were killed and five were seriously injured.[12][13] Later that season, Wright was able lead his team to put the tragedy behind them by defending their Southwestern Athletic Conference indoor track championship.[14]

Personal life

Wright earned a bachelor's degree from Maryland State (now called University of Maryland Eastern Shore) and a master's degree from Penn State. He also completed post-graduate work at the University of Iowa and the University of North Texas.[15]

References

  1. ^ Lubbock Online Tragic crash still weighs on Prairie View A&M
  2. ^ a b USA Track and Field News
  3. ^ Prairie View A&M University coaching records
  4. ^ "Prairie View Agricultural & Mechanical University Directory". The Sports Network. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/teams/direct582.htm. 
  5. ^ Henry Fraizer III Coaching Records
  6. ^ CSTV.com Hoover Wright profile
  7. ^ Prairie View A&M News Hoover Wright to be honored at 2005 ... Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
  8. ^ Texas A&M Athletics news Track Coaches Hall of Fame
  9. ^ Black Sports The Magazine May 2006 issue
  10. ^ New York Times N.C.A.A. Track
  11. ^ Drake Realays Coaches Hall of Fame
  12. ^ ESPN.com "Four killed, five seriously hurt in van crash"
  13. ^ Washington Post Conditions Improve, February 14, 2000
  14. ^ Amarillo.com Triumphantly overcoming tragedy
  15. ^ Prairie View A&M News Hoover Wright Career Perspective (Broken link)

External links