Boyd Franklin "Cotton" Converse (February 18, 1932 – May 31, 2010) was an American

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 ...

and

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

for one season in 1967, compiling a record of 2–7–1. Converse was also the head football coach at

Paris Junior College Paris Junior College (PJC) is a Public college, public community college with three campuses in East Texas: Paris, Texas, Paris, Greenville, Texas, Greenville, and Sulphur Springs, Texas, Sulphur Springs. The college was founded in 1924 as a cam ...

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River ...

from 1958 to 1961 and

Kilgore College Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate ...

Kilgore, Texas Kilgore, officially the City of Kilgore, is a city in Gregg County, Texas, Gregg and Rusk County, Texas, Rusk counties in Texas, United States. Located where Interstate 20 and US 259 converge just south of the Sabine River (Texas–Louisiana), ...

. At Kilgore, he led his 1966 team to the

NJCAA National Football Championship National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national football champions: Champions Single division era (1956–2021) Split division era (2021–present) For the 2021 season, the NJCAA announced the creation of Division I and Div ...

. Converse 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 ...

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) is a Public college, public community college in Miami, Oklahoma. Established as the Miami School of Mines in 1919, NEO has an enrollment of approximately two thousand students. The Golden Norsemen is th ...

from 1972 to 1989. Converse attended Southeastern State College—now known as

Southeastern Oklahoma State University Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Southeastern or SE) is a public university in Durant, Oklahoma. It had a total enrollment of 5,376 in 2022. History On March 6, 1909, the Second Oklahoma State Legislature approved an act designating Du ...

, where he won 11 varsity letters in three sports. He played football as an

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

, basketball as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

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 ...

as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. After graduating from Southeastern State, Converse served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. At

Fort Huachuca Fort Huachuca is a United States Army military base, installation, in Cochise County, Arizona, Cochise County in southeast Arizona, approximately north of the Mexico–United States border, border with Mexico and at the northern end of the Huac ...

Cochise County, Arizona Cochise County ( ) is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after Cochise, a Chiricahua Apache who was a key war leader during the Apache Wars. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The count ...

, he was an assistant football coach and head baseball coach. Following to years in the army, Converse went to East Texas State Teachers College—now known as

Texas A&M University–Commerce East Texas A&M University (ETAMU; formerly Texas A&M University–Commerce) is a public university in Commerce, Texas, United States. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in ...

to pursue a master's degree and work as an assistant basketball coach. In early 1957, Converse was hired at Paris Junior College as head basketball coach and line coach for the football team under head coach Dee Alexander. Converse succeeded Alexander as head football coach at Paris in 1958, and led the team to a record of 20–19–1 in four seasons before the program was disbanded. He remained head basketball coach at Paris through 1962 and then went to

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

as coach of the freshmen basketball team. Converse died in 2010 after a long illness.

Head coaching record

College football

Junior college football

References

1932 births 2010 deaths American football ends Baseball pitchers Guards (basketball) Baylor Bears men's basketball coaches Kilgore Rangers football coaches Paris Dragons football coaches Paris Dragons men's basketball coaches Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm baseball players Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm football players Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm men's basketball players East Texas A&M Lions men's basketball coaches Wichita State Shockers football coaches Junior college athletic directors in the United States People from Johnston County, Oklahoma Coaches of American football from Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Baseball coaches from Oklahoma Baseball players from Oklahoma Basketball coaches from Oklahoma Basketball players from Oklahoma 20th-century American sportsmen {{1950s-collegefootball-coach-stub