BISON FOOTBALL REFECTIONS

Eddie Hurt Jr.

By John W. Parrish

           The man who succeeded Victor C. Hurt as OBU football and track coach was Eddie Hurt Jr. Eddie played football and ran track for Vic Hurt but was not related to him.

Eddie Hurt came from Carmen, Okla., in 1925 and graduated from OBU in 1929. A sprinter, Hurt was a member of the 1927 relay team which won the 880 at the Texas, Rice, Oklahoma, and Kansas Relays and finished second at Drake. He also was a member of the mile relay team which won at Texas, Oklahoma, and Drake in 1927. A long jumper (broad jumper at that time), he set a state record of 22-10.

He was a halfback on football teams which never lost a home game (13-0-3) and compiled an overall record of 25-5-5. He wrestled for OBU in 1927. When Victor Hurt left OBU in 1935, Eddie Hurt returned to coach. His football teams compiled a record of 19-17-4-with marks of 2-6-1 in 1935, 4-4-2 in 1936, 6-4-1 in 1937, and 7-3 in 1938. His 1937 and 1938 teams were Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference runners-up.

Hurt coached basketball from 1937-44 and 1945-47, winning 45 and losing 119. He coached track from 1935-36 through 1954-55. His 1936 track team included Olympian Harold Cagle, nationally-known hurdler Sam Allen, and a very strong relay team. Beginning in the spring of 1939, OBU began its domination of OCAC track, winning conference championships 14 consecutive years under Hurt's guidance from 1939-42 and from 1946-55. (There were no league championship meets from 1943-45 because of World War II.) OBU won titles in 1956 and 1957 after Hurt left, extending the wining streak to 16. In addition to league dominance, Hurt's teams competed well in the major relays, particularly in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Hurt moved from OBU to the Brotherhood Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention as associate secretary in charge of the Royal Ambassador program. He retired in 1972 and returned to OBU were he worked in the OBU Development Office and was administrative director of the Bison Athletic Association. He died in Shawnee in 1996.