Hubbard Lindsay "Axe" Alexander (February 14, 1939 – August 28, 2016) 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 wi ...

coach. As an assistant coach, he won three

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...

s with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL) and two national championships at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

. 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 ...

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

Early years

Alexander played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

, basketball and baseball at Atkins High School in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

. He earned four

varsity letters A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

in football, three in basketball and four in baseball. He was captain of the 1958 football and basketball teams his senior year while earning All-City/County and All-State honors in football. Alexander led the basketball team to the N.C.H.S.A.A. State Championship during the 1956–57 season.

College career

Alexander played

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for the

Tennessee State Tigers The Tennessee State Tigers and Lady Tigers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Tennessee State University (TSU), located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The Tigers athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) and ...

. He

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

his freshman year, and started the next three years. He garnered All-Midwestern Conference accolades his junior and senior years. Alexander earned All-American honors his senior year. He was also a team captain three years in a row. He graduated with a degree in Health and Physical Education in 1962.

Coaching career

Alexander was a graduate assistant for the Tennessee State Tigers from 1962 to 1963. He coached at George Washington High School in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from 1963 to 1965. He coached at Lester High School in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

from 1966 to 1970. Alexander was the head coach and athletic director at East High School in Memphis from 1971 to 1974. He served as defensive line and tight ends coach for the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's team ...

from 1975 to 1978. He was the tight ends coach of the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

from 1979 to 1984 and the wide receivers coach from 1985 to 1988. The Hurricanes won the national championship in 1983 and 1987. Alexander served as wide receivers coach of the

of the NFL from 1989 to 1997, winning

Super Bowl XXVII Super Bowl XXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

, XXVIII and

XXX XXX may refer to: Codes and symbols * 30 (number), Roman numeral XXX * XXX, designating pornography ** XXX, an X rating#United_States, X rating ** .xxx, an internet top-level domain intended for pornographic sites * XXX, a symbol of the straight ...

. He was the wide receivers coach of the NFL's

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

from 1998 to 1999. He served as wide receivers coach of the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the NFL from 2000 to 2003. Alexander was an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Marshals of the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, A ...

in 2005. He has spent time as head coach at Melrose High School in Memphis.

Personal life

Alexander married his college sweetheart, Gloria Demire, in 1962. The couple went on to have three sons, Todd, Chad and Bard. Chad played college football for the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a mem ...

, and is currently the Director of Player Personnel for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

of the NFL. There are eight grandchildren: Morgan, Nicholas, Sofia, Chloe, Charlotte, Harper, Haddie and Hunter. Axe and Gloria remained married until his death. Hubbard died in Reisterstown Maryland on August 28, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Hubbard 1939 births 2016 deaths American football centers Dallas Cowboys coaches Miami Hurricanes football coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches New Orleans Saints coaches Tennessee State Tigers football coaches Tennessee State Tigers football players Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches High school football coaches in Illinois High school football coaches in Tennessee Players of American football from Winston-Salem, North Carolina African-American players of American football African-American coaches of American football