Harold Thomas McAfee (November 20, 1953 – November 22, 2008) was an

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coach. He served as head coach at

Tarleton State University Tarleton State University is a Public university, public research university in Stephenville, Texas, United States. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 15,000 students in the fall of 2022. It is Carnegie C ...

from 1988 to 1992. McAfee compiled a 36–18 overall record, including an 11–1 season in 1990, the first ever undefeated regular season in school history. McAfee was an All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

linebacker at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

. He helped the Razorbacks to a 31–10 win over

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in the 1976

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, earning him the game's Defensive Most Valuable Player award. McAfee would eventually be named to the Cotton Bowl Classic Hall of Heroes for the 1970s and the ''

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'' All-Time Cotton Bowl Classic team. He started his coaching career as a defensive

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

at his alma mater before moving on to the high school level. He became

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

at the high school in

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, before moving on to his first head coaching job at Harmony Grove High School in

Camden, Arkansas Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County, Arkansas, Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state portals, U.S. state of Arkansas. The city is located about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Situated on bluffs overlo ...

. Returning to the

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in 1986, McAfee was hired as defensive coordinator by Bill Pringle at

. The Texans won consecutive

Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (TIAA) was a college sports association that operated from 1909 to 1932. All of its members were located in the US state of Texas. History Founded in 1909 by Southwestern University, Austin Colle ...

(TIAA) championships in 1986 and 1987, finishing seasons 9–1–1 and 9–3, respectively. In 1988, McAfee succeeded Pringle as head coach at Tarleton State and spent the next five years leading the team. TSU won two TIAA championships (1989 & 1990) and made it to the NAIA II National Quarterfinals twice (1989 & 1990) in those five years. McAfee died on November 22, 2008, of a massive heart attack while exercising on a treadmill in

Arkadelphia, Arkansas Arkadelphia is a city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,380. The city is the county seat of Clark County. It is situated at the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. Two universities, Hender ...

, where he lived. He was 55 years old.

Head coaching record

College

High school

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAfee, Hal 1953 births 2008 deaths American football linebackers Arkansas Razorbacks football players Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Fort Lewis Skyhawks football coaches Tarleton State Texans football coaches High school football coaches in Arkansas High school football coaches in Texas Sportspeople from Arkadelphia, Arkansas