Caesar Felton "Zip" Gayles (May 22, 1900 – November 5, 1986) 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 ...

and college basketball coach. He served as the head football coach at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College—now known as Tennessee State University—in 1927, Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College—now known as University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff–from 1928 to 1929, and at Langston University from 1930 to 1957. He was also the head basketball coach at Langston from 1930 to 1965, tallying a mark of 571–281. Gayles was inducted into the Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974, the NAIA Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1986, and the

National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National ...

in 2015.

Coaching career

Tennessee A&I

After graduating, Gayles took a faculty and coaching position at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College in Nashville, Tennessee, now called Tennessee State University. As the fourth head coach of the football, he led the squad to a record of 1–2–3 in 1927. Some records list his name as "Felton Gale" at this time but other records confirm that "Felton Gale" and "Caesar Felton Gayles" are indeed the same person.

Arkansas–Pine Bluff

Gayles was the head football coach at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College—now known as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff—for two seasons, from 1928 to 1929, compiling a record of 8–9–3.

Langston

Gayles coached for 35 years at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma. As the basketball coach from 1930 to 1965, his teams compiled a record of 571–281. He also was the football coach for 28 seasons, from 1930 to 1957, finishing with a record of 146–78–18. His teams were National Negro champions twice in both basketball and football.

Death

Gayles died on November 5, 1986, in

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...

Head coaching record

Football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gayles, Caesar Felton 1900 births 1986 deaths Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football coaches Langston Lions football coaches Langston Lions basketball coaches Morehouse Maroon Tigers football players Tennessee State Tigers football coaches African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American basketball coaches 20th-century African-American sportspeople