Harry J. "Little" Long (December 28, 1897 – December 8, 1945) 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 ...

coach and professor of biology and brother of

Fred T. Long Fred Thomas "Pop" "Pops" "Big" Long (January 22, 1896 – March 23, 1966) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro League baseball, Negro leagues and a college football coach. He was the head football coach at four historically b ...

. He was born in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

and graduated from Decatur High School in 1915. He enrolled at the James

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Millikin was initially esta ...

in the fall of 1915 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1919, having majored in biology and minored in mathematics. He completed his Master of Arts degree in biology at

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 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 1928 and was working on completing his Doctorate at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

before his untimely death in 1945. Harry began his coaching career at

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two lan ...

in 1919 and then coached at

Langston University Langston University (LU) is a public land-grant historically black university in Langston, Oklahoma. It is the only historically black college in the state and the westernmost four-year public HBCU in the United States. The main campus in Lan ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

in 1922 before taking over at

Paul Quinn College Paul Quinn College (PQC) is a private historically black Methodist college in Dallas, Texas. The college is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). It is the oldest historically black college west of the Mississippi River ...

in 1923 when his brother Fred left Paul Quinn for

Wiley College Wiley University (formerly Wiley College) is a private historically black college in Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is one of the ...

. Harry became head football coach at Paul Quinn for the next four seasons (1923–1927). In 1924 Paul Quinn tied Tuskegee, 0–0, and earned a share of the

black college football national championship The Black college football national championship, also named the HBCU football championship, is a National championship#Football, national championship honor that, since 1920, has been regularly bestowed upon the best College football teams among ...

. He was the fifth head football coach at

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

and he held that position for the 1928 season. His career coaching record at Tennessee State was 0–4–1. He left Tennessee State in 1929 to join his brother Fred's staff at

and head up that college's biology department. On December 8, 1945, as the Wiley Wildcats were playing

Florida A&M Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

in the

Orange Blossom Classic The Orange Blossom Classic is an American annual college football game first held from 1933 to 1978 and again since 2021. Starting back up in 2021 the game has been played on Labor Day weekend. History In its first incarnation, the Classic featu ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

for the

Long, who was still an assistant coach on his brother's staff, suffered a fatal heart attack on the sidelines during the first quarter of the game and died. The Wildcats still went on to defeat Florida A&M by a score of 32–6 and won the national title for 1945.''The Chicago Defender'' "Wiley Coach Drops Dead in Football Classic" December 15, 1945 page 1 & 5

References

1897 births 1945 deaths Langston Lions football coaches Paul Quinn Tigers football coaches Prairie View A&M Panthers football coaches Tennessee State Tigers football coaches Wiley Wildcats football coaches Wiley University faculty Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Millikin University alumni University of Michigan alumni Sportspeople from Decatur, Illinois African-American coaches of American football 20th-century African-American people {{1920s-collegefootball-coach-stub