Albert George Akins (June 13, 1921 – August 29, 1995) was a 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 wi ...

halfback and defensive back who played three seasons for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, Buffalo Bills and Brooklyn Dodgers in the All-America Football Conference. Akins was a native of

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

and attended

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

and later the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

, where he played football and basketball. He was a key member of a University of Washington team that lost the Rose Bowl Game in 1943 to the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. Akins played for the Browns in 1946, and subsequently joined Buffalo and Brooklyn. He won an AAFC championship with the Browns, although he did not play in the championship game due to an injury. After his playing career, Akins became an assistant football coach at

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & C ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. He went on to become head coach of

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

for 15 years starting in 1955. His coaching record at Southern Oregon was 71–62–3.

Early life and high school career

Akins grew up in

and attended John R. Rogers High School, where he played on the basketball team and ran track. His brothers

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

and Hal were also standouts as athletes.

College career

Akins lettered in basketball at

Washington State College Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant univer ...

in 1940 and 1941, but did not play football. By the end of 1943, Akins had transferred to the

, where many Washington State players went to train in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. He played football there, starring as a halfback for the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-1 ...

. He was also said to be a good passer. The 1943 team went undefeated and was heavily favored to beat the

in the 1944 Rose Bowl. The

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

won 29–0, however. Akins fumbled the ball in the third quarter, setting up one of the Trojans' touchdowns.

Jim Hardy James Francis Hardy (April 24, 1923 – August 16, 2019) was an American football quarterback. He was born in Los Angeles. High school career Hardy attended and played high school football at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. College care ...

, the USC quarterback, said after the game that the team's "only real fear was that that fellow Al Akins might get loose on the runback of a punt for a touchdown." Akins also played basketball at the University of Washington in 1944, when he was a first-team All-PCC selection. That year, the Huskies basketball team won 20 games in a row and finished first in their conference.

Professional career

After returning from service in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

in 1946, Akins signed to play for the

, a team in the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC). He scored his only touchdown of the season on a 50-yard run in a game against the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

. Cleveland defeated the AAFC's New York Yankees to win the league title that year. Akins, however, did not play in the title game because of an injury. He suffered a separated shoulder in a game against the

Miami Seahawks The Miami Seahawks were a professional American football team based in Miami, Florida. They played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in the league's inaugural season, 1946, before the team was relocated to Baltimore. They are notable ...

. Akins played in 1947 for the AAFC's Brooklyn Dodgers. He played for the Buffalo Bills in 1948 when they faced the Browns in the AAFC championship game. Akins sat out because of an injury, and the Browns won the game.

Coaching career

Akins took a job as an assistant coach at

. He resigned in 1954 to seek a head coaching job, and got the top spot the following year at

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 ...

. He stayed in that job for 15 seasons until 1969. His teams' combined record was 71–62–3 during that span. He is first all-time among coaches at Southern Oregon in total wins and fifth in career winning percentage (.533).

Head coaching record

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akins, Al 1921 births 1995 deaths American football defensive backs American football halfbacks American men's basketball players Cleveland Browns (AAFC) players Lewis & Clark Pioneers football coaches Southern Oregon Raiders football coaches Washington State Cougars men's basketball players Washington Huskies football players Washington Huskies men's basketball players Coaches of American football from Washington (state) Players of American football from Spokane, Washington Basketball players from Spokane, Washington American military personnel of World War II