Harry J. "Little" Long (December 28, 1897 – December 8, 1945) 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 ...

coach and professor of biology and brother of

Fred T. Long Fred Thomas "Pop" "Pops" "Big" Long (January 22, 1896 – March 23, 1966) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro leagues and a college football coach. He was the head football coach at four historically black colleges and unive ...

. He was born in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

and graduated from Decatur High School in 1915. He enrolled at the James

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Media Decaturian The ''Decaturian'', also known as ...

in the fall of 1915 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1919, having majored in biology and minored in mathematics. He completed his Master of Arts degree in biology at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1928 and was working on completing his Doctorate at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

before his untimely death in 1945. Harry began his coaching career 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 ...

in 1919 and then coached at

Langston University Langston University (LU) is a public land-grant historically black university in Langston, Oklahoma. It is the only historically black college in the state. Though located in a rural setting east of Guthrie, Langston also serves an urban missio ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

in 1922 before taking over at

Paul Quinn College Paul Quinn College (PQC) is a Private college, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist college in Dallas, Texas. The college is affiliated with the African Methodist E ...

in 1923 when his brother Fred left Paul Quinn for

Wiley College Wiley College is a private historically black college in Marshall, Texas. Founded in 1873 by the Methodist Episcopal Church's Bishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by the Freedman's Aid Society, it is one of the oldest predominantly black col ...

. Harry became head football coach at Paul Quinn for the next four seasons (1923–1927). In 1924 Paul Quinn tied Tuskegee, 0–0, and earned a share of the

black college football national championship The black college football national championship is a national championship honor that, since 1920, has been regularly bestowed upon the best football teams among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) within the United States. Histo ...

. He was the fifth head football coach at

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 ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

and he held that position for the 1928 season. His career coaching record at Tennessee State was 0–4–1. He left Tennessee State in 1929 to join his brother Fred's staff at

and head up that college's biology department. On December 8, 1945, as the Wiley Wildcats were playing

Florida A&M Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

in the

Orange Blossom Classic The Orange Blossom Classic is an annual college football game first held between 1933 and 1978 and again since 2021. In its first incarnation, it featured Florida A&M and another historically black school in an unofficial ''de facto'' championsh ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

for the

Long, who was still an assistant coach on his brother's staff, suffered a fatal heart attack on the sidelines during the first quarter of the game and died. The Wildcats still went on to defeat Florida A&M by a score of 32–6 and won the national title for 1945.''The Chicago Defender'' "Wiley Coach Drops Dead in Football Classic" December 15, 1945 page 1 & 5

References

1897 births 1945 deaths Langston Lions football coaches Paul Quinn Tigers football coaches Prairie View A&M Panthers football coaches Tennessee State Tigers football coaches Wiley Wildcats football coaches Wiley College faculty Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Millikin University alumni University of Michigan alumni Sportspeople from Decatur, Illinois African-American coaches of American football 20th-century African-American people {{1920s-collegefootball-coach-stub