Don Hudson (November 20, 1929-present) was the first African American head football coach at a predominantly white college, Macalester College.

He became the head coach in December of 1971 when his predecessor, Dick Borstad, resigned. Macalester College barely publicized the milestone. As a result other universities, like Portland State and Oberlin College, later were reported to have hired the first African American college football coach. Don Hudson was most recently recognized for his breakthrough at half time of a Macalester game in October of 2007. He was a quarterback for Lincoln University and an assistant coach there through the fifties and sixties. He was soon offered a head coaching job at Minneapolis Central High School where he was the first African American coach in that school’s league. He then took a coaching and teaching job at predominantly white Macalester College in 1971. He went 3-36 in his first four seasons as head coach of Macalester. He eventually moved on from Macalester after a losing effort, but he was able to break through the racial barrier in college football. He was a pioneer and paved the way for future African American coaches in modern college football.

[edit] Reading

• Weiner, Jay.Macalester's Hudson: The First, but Forgotten Until Now. ESPN, 2/13/2008.
• Blount, Rachel. Macalester's Don Hudson: An Overdue Honor.Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN, 10/4/2007.

[edit] External links

• An overdue honor