Henry Kean

Henry A. Kean
Sport(s) Football, basketball
Biographical details
Born 1894
Died December 12, 1955 (aged 61)
Nashville, Tennessee
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1931–1942 Kentucky State
1944–1954 Tennessee A&I
Basketball
1944–1949 Tennessee A&I
1950–1951 Tennessee A&I
Head coaching record
Overall 166–33–9 (football)
108–26 (basketball)

Henry Arthur Kean (1894 – December 12, 1955) was an American college football coach best known for his tenure as head coach at Kentucky State University from 1931 to 1942. At Kentucky State, Kean's teams won four black college football national championships and ten straight Midwestern Athletic Association championships. His lifetime coaching record was an impressive 166–33–9, with a winning percentage of .819.

Coaching career

Kentucky State

Kean was the sixth head football coach at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky, a position he held for 12 seasons, from 1931 until 1942. During his tenure there, he led the team to four Black College National Football championships and ten straight Midwestern Athletic Association championships. His coaching record at Kentucky State was 73–17–6.[1]

Tennessee State

Kean moved to Tennessee State University in 1943 and led the Tigers to five football national titles. Kean was the 11th head football coach for the Tigers in Nashville, Tennessee and he held that position for 11 seasons, from 1944 until 1954. His coaching record at Tennessee State was 93–16–3.

Henry Kean also coached basketball at Tennessee State from 1944 to 1949 and from 1950 to 1951. As head coach, he recorded a record of 108–26. In 1948–49, the Tigers went undefeated finishing with a record of 24 wins, scoring 1,765 points while allowin only 977 points by their opponents. This team remains Tennessee State's only undefeated team.

Kean was inducted into the Tennessee State Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.[2] Kean Hall Gymnasium, nicknamed "Kean's Little Garden," is named in his honor.

Personal life

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Kean held college degrees from both Indiana University and Fisk University, and taught mathematics at Louisville's Central High School. He died at the age of 61, on December 12, 1955, at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Kentucky State University coaching records Archived October 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Tennessee State University coaching records Archived July 28, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ "Coach Of Negro Grid Teams Dies". The Advocate-Messenger. Danville, Kentucky. Associated Press. December 13, 1955. p. 6. Retrieved March 21, 2017 – via Newspapers.com .
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.