Hensley W. Sapenter (born December 16, 1939) is a former

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 ...

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

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant universities and the second oldest public institution of higher learnin ...

from 1995 to 1996, compiling a record of 0–22. Sapenter was inducted into the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

Early life and playing career

Sapenter grew up in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

and attended Wheatley High School there. He played

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 ...

as a center and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for in the late 1950s under head coach Billy Nicks. He was inducted into the school's Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.

Coaching career

After graduating from Prairie View in 1960, Sapenter began his coaching career at Booker T. Washington High School in

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

, working as an assistant football coach under Ervin Garnet. Sapenter was hired as the athletic director for the San Antonio Independent School District in 1976. He had recently retired from that post when, in 1995, he was hired as interim head football coach and athletic director at Prairie View, despite having not coached at any level since 1972. He was told that he would only be considered for the full-time job if he could win.Sports Illustrated/CNN
"Once Upon A Time..." by John Ed Bradley, August 28, 1995 In two years, Sapenter finished 0–22, making him one of the few college football coaches to have never won a game. During his tenure, his teams were outscored 950–210. On September 23, Prairie View was drubbed, 44–6 by tying

Macalester Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S t ...

's NCAA record 50 straight losses. They broke the tie the next week with a 64–0 thumping by

Grambling State Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

—the 399th career win for Grambling's legendary coach, Eddie Robinson. The streak grew to 80 consecutive losses before it was broken in 1998. Sapenter was first suspended with pay and then subsequently fired following an investigation into the use of ineligible players.New York Times
"Team That's 0-58 May Have Broken Rules" September 4, 1996

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapenter, Hensley 1939 births Living people American football centers American football linebackers Prairie View A&M Panthers and Lady Panthers athletic directors Prairie View A&M Panthers football coaches Prairie View A&M Panthers football players High school football coaches in Texas High school track and field coaches in the United States Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from San Antonio African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American college athletic directors in the United States 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople

Early life and playing career

Coaching career

Head coaching record

See also

References