Pete Richardson (born October 17, 1946) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and former college head coach. Richardson played

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 ...

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

, and was drafted by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in the sixth round of the

1968 NFL/AFL draft The 1968 NFL/AFL draft was part of the common draft, in the second year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players. It took place at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City on January 30–31, 1968. The Minnesota Vikings ac ...

. He played for the Bills for three years until a knee injury ended his playing career. Richardson began his coaching career in the late 1970s at the high school football ranks in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, before moving up to

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

football in 1979 as he joined the coaching staff at

Winston-Salem State University Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is a historically black public university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. History Winston-Salem State University was founded as "Slater Industrial A ...

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

. In 1988, Richardson became the head coach of the

Winston-Salem State Rams The Winston-Salem State Rams are the athletic teams that represent Winston-Salem State University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Rams compete as members of the Central Intercollegiate Ath ...

, succeeding Bill Hayes, who left to become the head football coach at

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public university, public, Historically black colleges and universities, historicall ...

. Richardson served as head coach from 1988 to 1992, compiling a win–loss record of 41–14–1, winning three

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (originally and through 1950 known as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association — CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NC ...

(CIAA) championships—in 1988, 1990, 1991—and leading the Rams to two appearances in the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs, in 1990 and 1991. Richardson left the Winston-Salem State in 1993 to become head football coach at

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It i ...

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

. During his tenure at Southern, the Jaguars won five

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) championships, including three consecutives titles from 1997 to 1999, as well four

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 ...

s, in 1993, 1995, 1997, and 2003. His teams also made six appearances in the

Heritage Bowl The Heritage Bowl was an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) bowl game held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The bowl pitted a team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) against a team from the South ...

, a postseason

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

for

historically black colleges and universities Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

(HBCUs). Richardson compiled a win–loss record of 134–62 in 17 seasons as head coach, making him the second winningest coach in program history behind coach

Ace Mumford Arnett William "Ace" Mumford (November 26, 1898 – April 28, 1962) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at historically black colleges and universities in Texas and Louisiana from 1924 to 1961, compiling a career ...

. He is the only coach in the history of the Jaguars football program to have an undefeated record against

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

coach Eddie Robinson of the rival

Grambling State Tigers The Grambling State Tigers and Lady Tigers represent Grambling State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Grambling's sports teams participate in Division I (I-FCS for College football, football ...

in the

Bayou Classic The Bayou Classic is an annual college football classic rivalry game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars, first held under that name in 1974 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, although the series ...

. Richardso has collected many accolades allocated to football coaches of HBCUs, such as the Black Coaches Association's Coach of the Year in 1998, five-time SWAC Coach of the Year (1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003), Atlanta's 100% Wrong Club's Coach of the Year (1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003), Washington D.C.'s Pigskin Club's Coach of the Year (1995, 1998 and 2003), the Kodak Region IV Coach of the Year (1995) and the Sheridan Broadcasting Network's Coach of the Year (1997 and 2003).

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Pete 1946 births Living people American football defensive backs American Football League players Buffalo Bills players Dayton Flyers football players Southern Jaguars football coaches Winston-Salem State Rams football coaches High school football coaches in Ohio Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio African-American coaches of American football 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen