Eddie C. McGirt (January 31, 1920 – December 21, 1999) was an

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 with ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

Johnson C. Smith University Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and accredited by the ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

from 1958 to 1977, compiling a record of 118–73–3. McGirt was also the head basketball coach at Johnson C. Smith from 1959 to 1962, tallying a mark of 63–32.

Early years

McGirt was born in

Camden, South Carolina Camden is the largest city and county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Camden is the oldest inland city in South Caro ...

. He competed in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

at Mather Academy. He enrolled at

in 1940, earning All-

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) honors as a fullback for the football team. He entered the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1943 and received a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

Coaching career

McGirt was the football head coach at Mather Academy for several years. In 1958, he returned to Johnson C. Smith University, where he eventually became the school's 11th head football coach. He is credited with lifting Johnson C. Smith's struggling football team to become one of the CIAA's most respected. For 20 years, his teams ranked at the top of CIAA standings. He retired after 20 years as Johnson C. Smith's head football coach. During his tenure, his teams won one CIAA championship (1969), two divisional titles, and were runners-up twice. He retired with an overall football coaching record of 118–73. He also served many teaching positions and coached the university's basketball team from 1959 to 1962 with an overall record of 63–32. McGirt remained as the university's athletic director and head of the Department of Health and Physical Education until June 30, 1985. He supported Johnson C. Smith athletics until his death on December 21, 1999. In 1977, he was inducted into the

(CIAA) Hall of Fame. The university's football field is named after him (Eddie McGirt Field). The Eddie C. McGirt Endowed Scholarship is awarded to a sophomore, junior, or student athlete with at least a 3.0 GPA.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

Honoree South Carolina African American History Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGirt, Eddie 1920 births 1999 deaths American football fullbacks Basketball coaches from South Carolina Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls and Lady Golden Bulls athletic directors Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls basketball coaches Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football coaches Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football players High school football coaches in South Carolina Columbia University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II People from Camden, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American basketball coaches African-American college athletic directors in the United States 20th-century African-American sportspeople