James "Big Daddy" Carson Jr. (February 25, 1940 – October 7, 1999) 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. He served as the head football coach of

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a Public university, public Historically Black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

from 1992 to 1998, compiling a record of 54–25–1. Carson's Jackson State Tigers won a

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 ...

in 1996 and back-to-back

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

(SWAC) titles in 1995 and 1996. They appeared in the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs three consecutive years from 1995 to 1997. A native of

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19t ...

, Carson played college football as an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

and

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

at Jackson State, garnering All- NAIA honorable mention honors in 1962. His son, Ricardo, played football at the school from 1991 to 1994. Carson stepped down from his post at Jackson State in May 1999 after undergoing intestinal surgery the previous month. He was succeeded as head coach by

Judge Hughes Robert E. "Judge" Hughes (November 17, 1944 – July 31, 2013) was an American football player and coach. He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft and played in the National Football League (NFL) with the Atlanta Fal ...

. Carson died on October 7, 1999, at his home in Jackson.

Head coaching record

References

1940 births 1999 deaths American football defensive tackles American football offensive guards Alabama A&M Bulldogs football coaches Jackson State Tigers football coaches Jackson State Tigers football players Rust Bearcats football coaches South Carolina State Bulldogs football coaches Players of American football from Clarksdale, Mississippi Coaches of American football from Mississippi African-American coaches of American football 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen {{1990s-collegefootball-coach-stub