Cecil Clarence "Sonny" Humphreys (May 17, 1914 – June 14, 1995) was an American
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
player and coach, athletics administrator, professor, and university president. He served as the head football coach at Memphis State College—renamed from West Tennessee State Teachers College in 1941 and now known as the
University of Memphis—from 1939 to 1941, compiling a record of 14–16. Humphreys was also the
athletic director at Memphis State from 1947 to 1960 the president of the university from 1960 to 1973. The
Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law is an American Bar Association accredited law school and is the only law school in Memphis, Tennessee. The school has been associated with the University of Memphis since the law school's ...
at the University of Memphis is named for him.
Humphreys was born in
Paris, Tennessee
Paris is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,316.
A replica of the Eiffel Tower stands in the southern part of Paris.
History
The present site of Pari ...
and attended
E.W. Grove Henry County High School, where he played on the school's undefeated football team in 1929. He moved on to the
University of Tennessee, where he played football as an
end from 1933 to 1935. Humphreys received a bachelor's degree in 1936 and a master's degree in 1938 from the University of Tennessee. He earned a doctorate from
New York University (NYU) in 1957.
Humphreys began his teaching career in 1936 as a history instructor at the University of Tennessee Junior College—now known as the University of Tennessee at Martin. In 1937, he moved on to Memphis State to again teach history.
Humphreys died on June 14, 1995, at this home in
Memphis, Tennessee.
Head coaching record
References
1914 births
1995 deaths
American football ends
Memphis Tigers athletic directors
Memphis Tigers football coaches
Vanderbilt Commodores football players
Presidents of the University of Memphis
University of Memphis faculty
University of Tennessee at Martin faculty
New York University alumni
People from Paris, Tennessee
Coaches of American football from Tennessee
Players of American football from Tennessee
{{1930s-collegefootball-coach-stub