Homer E. Harris Jr. (March 4, 1916 – March 17, 2007) was an American college football player and coach. He attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

, where he played as an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

and tackle and became the first African-American captain of a

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

team. Harris served as head football coach at

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

from 1939 to 1940, compiling a record of 8–7–3. Born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, he became the first black captain of the football team at Seattle's Garfield High School. At Iowa, he was the MVP of the

1936 Iowa Hawkeyes football team The 1936 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1936 college football season. This was Ossie Solem's fifth and final season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. Schedule References Iowa Iowa Hawkeyes football seas ...

as a junior and captain of the 1937 Iowa Hawkeyes football team as senior. named an All-Big Ten Conference three years in a row. Harris went to

Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical College is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Medical school in the United States, medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Te ...

in Nashville and practiced as a

dermatologist Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin.''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.'' Random House, Inc. 2001. Page 537. . It is a speciality with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist is a specialist medica ...

, first in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and then his hometown of Seattle from 1954 to 2000. He was inducted into the Hawkeyes' Hall of Fame in 2002 and had a Seattle park named after him the same year. Harris died on March 17, 2007, at his home in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Homer 1916 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American physicians American dermatologists American football ends American football tackles Iowa Hawkeyes football players North Carolina A&T Aggies football coaches Garfield High School (Seattle) alumni Meharry Medical College alumni Coaches of American football from Washington (state) Players of American football from Seattle African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people