The Morgan State Bears football team competes in

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 wi ...

on behalf of

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...

. The Bears compete in the

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

, currently as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The Bears play their home games at Hughes Stadium, a 10,000 seat facility in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Morgan State began playing football in 1898, 31 years after the school was founded. The team's all-time record is 405 wins, 379 losses and 38 ties. 173 of those wins came between 1929 and 1959 when

Edward P. Hurt Edward Paulette Hurt (February 12, 1900 – March 24, 1989) was an American football, basketball, and track coach. He served the head football coach at Virginia Theological Seminary and College—now known as Virginia University of Lynchburg— ...

was the head coach and the Bears won 14

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. CIAA institutions mostly consist of historically black coll ...

(CIAA) championships.

Earl Banks Earl C. Banks (June 11, 1924 – October 27, 1993) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at Morgan State College—now known as Morgan State University—from 1960 to 1973, compili ...

won four CIAA championships during the 1960s and an additional championship in 1971 after Morgan entered the MEAC. The Bears have won three MEAC Championships (1976, 1979 and 2014).

History

Classifications

*1950–1972: NCAA College Division *1955–1965: NAIA *1970–1984: NAIA Division I *1973–1985: NCAA Division II *1986–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference memberships

* 1899–1928: Independent * 1929–1970:

* 1971–1978:

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

* 1979–1983: NCAA Division II independent * 1984–present:

Historic first

*1976, Morgan State played Grambling State in the first American college football game in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Morgan State lost 42–16 in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Championships

Rivals

Morgan State and Howard participate in the

Howard–Morgan State football rivalry The rivalry between the Howard Bison and Morgan State Bears is a matchup between two HBCU schools, one of the oldest rivalries in black college football. The series started in 1899. The Bison won the first game in 1899, 71 to 0. They continu ...

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

and Morgan State share a rivalry called

The Battle for Greater Baltimore The Morgan State–Towson rivalry, known as The Battle for Greater Baltimore, is a football game between Morgan State University and Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 186 ...

Playoff appearances

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS

The Bears have made one appearance in the Division I-AA/FCS playoffs, with a combined record of 0-1.

NCAA Division II

The Bears made one appearance in the Division II playoffs, with a combined record of 0-1.

Coaches

Eddie Hurt era

Coach Eddie P. Hurt took over the Morgan Bears football team in 1929, the next year his teams won the first of the 14 CIAA championships they would win with him at the helm. More importantly, Hurt, and his assistant coach Talmadge L. Hill, built a program that allowed black athletes to show case their talents where such a venue had been non-existent before. From 1931 to 1938, Hurt coached the Bears to a 54-game win streak without a single loss. During his tenure, Morgan's football teams completed 11 seasons undefeated and, in the 1943 season, opponents failed to score a single point against the Bears. Hurt is a member of the HBCU coaches Hall of Fame and in 1952 Morgan named its new $1 million gymnasium facility after him.

Earl "Papa Bear" Banks era

Earl Banks succeeded Hurt and took Morgan football to the next level. Banks was the Head coach from 1960 to 1973. He coached the Bears to a 31-game winning streak, three unbeaten regular seasons, four CIAA titles, a MEAC championship, and four bowl games. Twice during his tenure, Morgan led the nation in total defense. 35 of Bank's players went on to play in the NFL, including

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, coa ...

Leroy Kelly Leroy Kelly (born May 20, 1942) is a former American football player. A Pro Football Hall of Fame running back, he played for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 to 1973. Career Kelly had attended Simon Gratz H ...

and

Willie Lanier Willie Edward Lanier (born August 21, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a middle linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1967 through 1977. He won postseason honors for eight consecutive years, making the Amer ...

; two more players played professional ball in the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. Banks was inducted into five sports Halls of Fame including the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

Modern era

Two Coaches have had winning records at Morgan since the departure of Banks at the end of the 1973 season. The Bears had suffered 23 straight seasons with a losing record until the arrival of former Coach Donald Hill-Eley whose first team had a 7–5 record in the 2002 season. Lee Hull was named head coach on January 8, 2014 and his first team went 7–5 and won a share of the MEAC championship and also played in the NCAA FCS Playoffs.

Notable alumni

Fifty three former Morgan players have gone on to play professional football. Thirty nine players went to the NFL, eight to the

, three to the WFL and one each to the AAFC, the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

and the AIFA. At least one player has gone to the NFL every decade since 1950 from Morgan State. Former Morgan Bears

Len Ford Leonard Guy Ford Jr. (February 18, 1926 – March 14, 1972) was an American football player who played at the offensive and defensive end positions from 1948 to 1958. He played college football for the University of Michigan and professional f ...

and

Rosey Brown Roosevelt "Rosey" Brown Jr. (October 20, 1932 – June 9, 2004) was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants from 1953 to 1965. He previously played coll ...

are members of the

in Canton, Ohio.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan State Bears Football American football teams established in 1898 1898 establishments in Maryland