Edward P. Hurt, USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame Class of 2004
Edward P. Hurt was the long time coach at Morgan State University. As a former All American end, he coached football, basketball and track & field at Morgan State for forty years, beginning in 1929.
In the early days, when the CIAA athletic conference stood for “Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association,” Coach Hurt reportedly said, “We had a heck of a problem getting started; there is no question about that.”
While a group of small black colleges played among themselves and received little national attention, Coach Hurt was developing a first class program. According to Hurt, “It was hard to get recognition, especially, in track & field, and we just never had a chance to compete against the better schools. When we first started trying to improve our program, nobody knew we were alive.”
Hurt’s Morgan State thinclads won 15 CIAA conference open and closed track & field championships and 16 individual national championships. In Penn Relay competitions, Hurt’s athletes earned several college class mile relay victories, one freshmen mile relay championship, one 400-meter hurdle championship, and one Class A mile relay championship.
Hurt was equally successful as a football coach. Under Hurt’s coaching, Morgan State’s football teams won 13 CIAA championships and several national gridiron titles. Eleven of his squads executed undefeated seasons, including a non-losing string of games from 1932 to 1938. The 1943 squad completed its season without ever being scored against, amassing 166 points in five games. He ended his football coaching career with 174 victories, including 54 consecutive wins from 1931-38.
Hurt also coached Morgan State basketball from 1929-1947. His Cagers consistently placed among the top basketball teams in the CIAA. During his tenure, the Cagers won four CIAA titles including top honors in three successive years: 1931, 1932 and 1933.
Hurt served as an assistant coach on the 1968 USA Olympic Track & Field team, in charge of the sprints.