Lucious Selmon (born March 15, 1951) is a collegiate and professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

nose guard, and football coach. He began his coaching career in 1976 at his alma mater, the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

, and has also coached on professional teams. From 1995 to 2002, he was a coach for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

, and has also coached privately. Born in Eufaula, Oklahoma, he had younger brothers Dewey Selmon and Lee Roy Selmon. In one period, all three were playing as defensive linemen at

. Each of them became professional football players, with varying length of careers.

Early life

He was one of nine children born to Lucious and Jessie Selmon, and was raised on a farm near

Eufaula, Oklahoma Eufaula is a city and county seat of McIntosh County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,813 at the 2010 census, an increase of 6.6 percent from 2,639 in 2000. Eufaula is in the southern part of the county, north of McAlester and ...

. He started playing football at Eufaula High School, from where he entered

in 1970.

Collegiate career

Selmon played nose guard for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the " Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land R ...

for coaches

Chuck Fairbanks Charles Leo Fairbanks (June 10, 1933 – April 2, 2013) was a football coach who was a head coach at the high school, college and professional levels. He served as the head coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1967 to 1972 and at the Univer ...

and

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Footbal ...

. He was a

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

in 1973, and was named Chevrolet/ABC National Defensive Player of the Year,

Big 8 Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associat ...

Athlete of the Year, and Big 8 Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He finished second in balloting for the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All- ...

and seventh in voting for the Heisman Trophy. He made 255 tackles, including 31 for losses (144 yards), during his career. Selmon graduated from Oklahoma with a degree in

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

in 1974. Selmon's younger brothers, Dewey and Lee Roy, joined him at the University of Oklahoma and in one period, all three played as defensive linemen. Dewey and Lee Roy were both named consensus ''All-Americans'' in 1975, and both were drafted by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in the

1976 NFL Draft The 1976 National Football League draft was an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York. The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks ...

. Lee Roy won the Outland Trophy and

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lo ...

, and in 1995 he was the Sooners' first inductee in the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...

. Although more than 40 years has passed since the Selmons played for Oklahoma, Oklahoma fans still say (referring to the Selmon brothers' parents), "God bless Mr. and Mrs. Selmon" or "Thank you, Mrs. Selmon."

Professional and coaching career

Selmon was drafted in the 16th round of the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have h ...

by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. He played two years as a defensive tackle for the Memphis Southmen (1974–75) in the World Football League. He returned to Oklahoma as an assistant coach at Switzer's invitation. At Oklahoma, Selmon worked 13 seasons under

(1976–88) and six more under Gary Gibbs (1989–94). He coached the Sooner defensive line from 1976 to 1983. From 1984 to 1994, he took over duties as outside linebackers and defensive ends coach. Selmon helped develop four players who later earned All-America honors: nose guard

Reggie Kinlaw Reggie Kinlaw (born January 9, 1957) is a former American football defensive tackle who played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners and Professionally for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders and Seattle Seahawks in the National Football League ...

Rick Bryan Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

, Kevin Murphy and defensive end

Darrell Reed Darrell R. Reed (born July 28, 1965) is a former American football defensive end who played for the Oklahoma Sooners. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 1988 NFL Draft. See also * 1985 Oklahoma Sooners football te ...

. He participated in the NFL's Minority Coaching Fellowship Program from 1980 to 1989, and worked with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

' linebackers and defensive ends. Selmon went to work as an assistant coach for

Tom Coughlin Thomas Richard Coughlin ( ; born August 31, 1946) is a former American football coach and executive. He was the head coach for the New York Giants from 2004 to 2015. He led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI, both time ...

and the

in 1995. Selmon tutored the outside linebackers from 1995 to 2001 before taking over the defensive line in 2002. Two Jaguars, outside linebacker Kevin Hardy and defensive end Tony Brackens, earned 'All-Pro' honors. In 2005, after working in football camps around the United States, Selmon joined the staff of the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and whi ...

as defensive line coach. He left Michigan State after one season for the Oakland Raiders. He worked as a private consultant to aspiring professional football players for two years. In 2007 Selmon applied for the head coaching position at the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO or Central State) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with more than 17,000 students and approximately 434 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founde ...

, but he was not hired. Selmon resides with his family in Jacksonville.

References

External links

Lucious Selmon: All-American at SoonerSports.com

Lucious Selmon's college career statistics at SoonerStats.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selmon, Lucious Living people People from Eufaula, Oklahoma All-American college football players American football defensive linemen Oklahoma Sooners football players Memphis Southmen players Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Michigan State Spartans football coaches Players of American football from Oklahoma 1951 births