Tillman R. Sease Sr. (September 6, 1916 – September 2, 1988) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

Bluefield State College Bluefield State University is a public historically black university (HBCU) in Bluefield, West Virginia. The university is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History The Bluefield Colored Institute was founded in 1895 as ...

Bluefield, West Virginia Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,658 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bluefield micropolitan area extending into Virginia, which had a populatio ...

from 1959 to 1961 and

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

from 1962 to 1968 and from 1970 to 1972, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coaching record of 53–58–1. He was also Howard's head baseball coach. A native of

York, Pennsylvania York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in ...

, Sease graduated from Bluefield State in 1948 and later earned a master's degree in education from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. From 1948 to 1956, he was the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

at Christiansburg Institute in

Christiansburg, Virginia Christiansburg (formerly Hans Meadows) is a town in the southwestern portion of Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. It has served as the seat of government for the county since 1792, when it was formally recognized by the Virginia Gener ...

, where he also coached football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and baseball. Sease returned to Bluefield State in 1956, where he worked as an assistant football and basketball coach under Sam B. Taylor for three years. He was appointed athletic director at Bluefield State in 1959.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sease, Tillman 1916 births 1988 deaths Bluefield State Big Blues athletic directors Bluefield State Big Blues football coaches Bluefield State Big Blues men's basketball coaches Howard Bison baseball coaches Howard Bison football coaches Bluefield State College alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Sportspeople from York, Pennsylvania African-American coaches of American football African-American college athletic directors in the United States 20th-century African-American sportsmen Sportspeople from Bluefield, West Virginia