Happy Hump Day!
Today’s featured coach is John Ayers Merritt.
John Ayers Merritt (January 26, 1926 – December 13, 1983) was a head football coach at Jackson State University and Tennessee State University. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994.
Merritt led Jackson State to back-to-back appearances in the Orange Blossom Classic in 1961 and 1962 before being hired by Tennessee State.
At TSU, Merritt tallied four undefeated seasons, claimed four Midwestern Conference titles, and scored the school’s first-ever NCAA Division I-AA playoff victory in 1982. His coaching record at Tennessee State was 174–35–7. As of the conclusion of the 2007 season, this ranks him first at Tennessee State in total wins and third at Tennessee State in winning percentage (.822).
Some twenty-three Merritt-coached players distinguished themselves in the NFL, including six who played in the Super Bowl. In addition, twenty-nine assistants, three head coaches, and five athletic directors played for Coach Merritt.
John Merritt compiled thirty straight winning seasons. Along with an excellent staff of assistant coaches which included Joe Gilliam Sr. and Alvin Coleman, who had accompanied Merritt to TSU from Jackson State in 1963, he implemented a wide open pro-type T offense with multiple sets. In 1967 his team achieved a national defensive record for allowing opponents a measly average of 2.15 yards per carry. He was Coach of the Year in 1973. Merritt’s team received the Associated Press and the United Press International small college championships in 1975. By 1979 he had a record of 130-25-5. Merritt modestly downplayed his role in the team’s success and attributed the team’s winning record to “the Good Lord.”
The more games Merritt won and the more players he sent to the National Football League, the more attention Tennessee and Tennessee State University gained nationally. In 1980 President Jimmy Carter called to congratulate Merritt for his 200th victory
John Merritt Boulevard in Nashville, Tennessee is named in his honor, and the Tennessee State football team opens every season with the John Merritt Classic game against Alabama A&M University, until recently the Classic headlines other HBCU teams, in particular 2012 — Tennessee State will play host to Florida A&M University on September 1, 2012.
Not only was he considered a great coach, college professor, and family man, but “Big John” Merritt was a “people person.” Men and women of all ages, races, and colors loved and respected him. He commanded the support and loyalty of local politicians and leaders for the TSU football program. He took care to see that “my boys” got their lessons and graduated. Merritt believed “A black kid doesn’t understand how to win just for the sake of winning. He has to have a reason to win . . . The same damn thing holds true here at Tennessee State University.” John Ayers Merritt knew how to win and how to teach generations of college students to win.