Archie Cooley.... What is his legacy


emptyright

New Member
This is for most of you old heads who remember...

What will Archie Cooley best be remembered for.. My generation has heard all the Satellite Express Offense stories... The passing, the yards, The points, and yea the hat.... He put mississippi valley state university:devil2: on the map... He gave the world Jerry Rice (The G.O.A.T)...

Then I have heard the Pine Bluff stories.... He made the school relevant... But i hear he got players from the local jail.... (I believe that and i will tell u why in a sec)

Ive heard he has made some asst stops at Southern and Norfolk State... A friend of mine was at Texas Southern when he was the OC down there...

He left sight for a while and reappeared here in Dallas at Paul Quinn College... This is when I got to see him for myself. I was able to see some of there games and i was blown away with how "WIDE - OPEN" his offense truly was... FYI he was running The Pistol before Nevada..

Then he messed up again.. His Paul Quinn program was like a Semi Pro team... They wasnt going to class, hell some of them wasn't even enrolled... Trust me that I know for a fact...

I had a chance to interview for an asst job at PQC... When this MOFO found out I had eligibility let he said " You don't need to coach, I can get you some financial aid and put you on the roster, we need some O lineman" LMFAO.... i knew this man had no ethics at all...
 
Cooley's legacy amongst HBCU fans will be two-fold. First, he'll be remembered for his innovative offense. Those sets were nothing like we'd seen prior to him coaching at Valley. And unless you were a Valley fan or Alcornite, seeing that offense operate hurt your feelings pretty good. We give Cooley credit for starting the West Coast offense that Bill Walsh is credited for. I don't know where Cooley learned his offense from. I don't recall him ever saying. He's a JSU alum, and I don't ever hear of JSU running that offense while Cooley was there. Second, he will forever be known as a monumental cheater. I'm talking on a scale that Johnny Cole hasn't reached yet. What you saw at Pine Bluff and Paul Quinn was simply how Cooley operated. He wanted to win, and if cheating was the way to do it, so be it.
 
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This is for most of you old heads who remember...

What will Archie Cooley best be remembered for.. My generation has heard all the Satellite Express Offense stories... The passing, the yards, The points, and yea the hat.... He put mississippi valley state university:devil2: on the map... He gave the world Jerry Rice (The G.O.A.T)...

Then I have heard the Pine Bluff stories.... He made the school relevant... But i hear he got players from the local jail.... (I believe that and i will tell u why in a sec)

Ive heard he has made some asst stops at Southern and Norfolk State... A friend of mine was at Texas Southern when he was the OC down there...

He left sight for a while and reappeared here in Dallas at Paul Quinn College... This is when I got to see him for myself. I was able to see some of there games and i was blown away with how "WIDE - OPEN" his offense truly was... FYI he was running The Pistol before Nevada..

Then he messed up again.. His Paul Quinn program was like a Semi Pro team... They wasnt going to class, hell some of them wasn't even enrolled... Trust me that I know for a fact...

I had a chance to interview for an asst job at PQC... When this MOFO found out I had eligibility let he said " You don't need to coach, I can get you some financial aid and put you on the roster, we need some O lineman" LMFAO.... i knew this man had no ethics at all...
So, you didnt take him up on his offer? That could have been your big break to make it to the pros.
 
Yeah, when he was in Houston and Walter Highsmith was the head coach, me and the old heads still laugh talking about some of those games, practices and hell just sitting around the cafeteria.

DAMN THOSE WERE THE DAYS! :lol:
 
Second, he will forever be known as a monumental cheater. I'm talking on a scale that Johnny Cole hasn't reached yet. What you saw at Pine Bluff and Paul Quinn was simply how Cooley operated. He wanted to win, and if cheating was the way to do it, so be it.

Now here is a Profound statement...:scared:
 
I had a chance to interview for an asst job at PQC... When this MOFO found out I had eligibility let he said " You don't need to coach, I can get you some financial aid and put you on the roster, we need some O lineman" LMFAO.... i knew this man had no ethics at all...

LOL!!!
 
Cooley's legacy amongst HBCU fans will be two-fold. First, he'll be remembered for his innovative offense. Those sets were nothing like we'd seen prior to him coaching at Valley. And unless you were a Valley fan or Alcornite, seeing that offense operate hurt your feelings pretty good. We give Cooley credit for starting the West Coast offense that Bill Walsh is credited for. I don't know where Cooley learned his offense from. I don't recall him ever saying. He's a JSU alum, and I don't ever hear of JSU running that offense while Cooley was there. Second, he will forever be known as a monumental cheater. I'm talking on a scale that Johnny Cole hasn't reached yet. What you saw at Pine Bluff and Paul Quinn was simply how Cooley operated. He wanted to win, and if cheating was the way to do it, so be it.

Don't know where Cooley learned his offense from. But it was not the West Coast offense. Bill Walsh learned his offense from coaching under Paul Brown and some interaction with Sid Gilliam. Cooley's offense was more like the No huddle Run and Shoot that Houston ran with Moon or the K-Gun that Buffalo ran.....remember Buffalo picked up Totten during that strike year. LOL.

But you are right...He will be known for both things. My old man knew Cooley from the JSU days and said Archie was always trying to stay a step ahead of the game. I do know Cooley always coveted the JSU job. He was on some good teams with Willie Richardson at JSU and they all played under Big John Merritt before he left. My Dad told me some stories about playing for Merritt. So I can only imagine where Cooley got some of his ideas. LOL.
 
My Dad told me some stories about playing for Merritt. So I can only imagine where Cooley got some of his ideas. LOL.
Could you give us a little snippet?


Was Cooley ever a Defensive Coach at Tn. State? I thought I remember reading an article in which it was while at Tn. State that he came up with the idea of his offense...

BTW, I thought it was a decent tribute in the movie Varsity Blues, to make mention of Cooley's offense...
 
Could you give us a little snippet?


Was Cooley ever a Defensive Coach at Tn. State? I thought I remember reading an article in which it was while at Tn. State that he came up with the idea of his offense...

BTW, I thought it was a decent tribute in the movie Varsity Blues, to make mention of Cooley's offense...

The stories I have are all JSU related when Merritt was coaching. Everybody back then was a little afraid of him. He was known to take some short cuts. LOL. One story from the 70s was classic. Joe 747 Adams was supposed to go to JSU. He was from Gulfport. Well it was said that ole Merritt went and got Joe himself from Gulfport to bring him to Nashville and keep him from JSU. Now how true that was is anybody's guess. But Merritt after he left JSU took some players with him and actually got a couple from SU too.

There was a poster on the board named Prince Hall that played for Merritt at TnSU. He doesn't post anymore. I went to HS with his son. Prince Hall played for the KC Chiefs under Hank Stram during their SB years. He has a lot of stories about Merritt I would imagine.

JSU fans can tell about the one year Merritt showed up in Jackson with their home blue jerseys on. LOL. I went to that game. JSU was losing at halftime and Gordon (a TnSU alum) had JSU white road uniforms sent for and they changed at halftime and came out and whooped TnSU. Merritt was notorious for doing stuff. So I think ole Cooley got a lot of his ways from his former coach.
 
I was a freshman at UAPB in 1990; the would ultimately be Coach Cooley's last season with us. When I first got on campus, the first thing I heard about was how the football team ran the school. At first I thought it was just some campus rumor, but I soon learned it was not. If you didn't eat in the cafeteria before 5pm, you were assed out because it would close down solely for the football team. If you did happen to be in the cafeteria and there was no ice, you were assed out because all the ice was saved for the football team, with authorization by Coach Cooley. Any trouble any football player (regardless of whether or not he started) got into was overlooked simply because they were on Cooley's roster, and some of those guys were law-breakers. And so what if there were women living in the football dorms with the players? It was over-looked because they were on Cooley's roster. What was happening in one of the football dorms was such a mess, the dormitory was torn down!

Our chancellor back then was Charles Walker, and it was known that he was aware of the illegality of Cooley's actions. He knew of the unethical standards Cooley used to "recruit" players. Yes, some weren't even enrolled at UAPB, others had low GPAs (below 1.50), and yes, some had police records and a few were felons. Walker, however, did nothing to ensure that these people were removed from campus, did nothing to ensure these guys benefitted from an education, did nothing to stop Cooley's "illegal procedures" (no pun intended). But maybe that was because Walker himself was a crook and a thief. It was discovered that he was stealing money from my beloved UAPB during the spring of 1991. He left the university but later died from a heart attack that same summer (IRONY & COINCIDENCE AT ITS FINEST!!!).

The NCAA, however, did not over-look what was happening with the football team at UAPB and after 92 allegations/violations, they put us on the death penalty for one year. But the impact was so financially devasting that we had to take another year off to rebuild the football team, build up funds, hire a coach and staff. So, "what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul"? Despite the wins, despite the popularity that spread for our team, despite the success, Robber was right. In my eyes, Cooley will always be remembered as an underhanded, lying cheater that left my school in a financial shamble for 2 years.
 
I remember when Cooley was at Valley.....they would practice about 4-5 times a day. The practice fields didn't have lights so they would be in the parking lots around the stadium and near the gym until about 10 or 11 o'clock at night.
 
I remember after Pine Bluff got into trouble, Coach Highsmith took in some Pine Bluff players boy did they stick out like a sore thumb. I remember some of them walking around campus in mink coats and shades like they were Ernest Givens and other Houston Oilers celebrities.
 
I had just started working at UAPB when Cooley was here. He dished out some major whippings during his time, dropping 40 on folks like it wasn't nothing! The players did what they wanted to they pretty much ran the yard! Crime was rampart all over and every chance they got it was a fight! They got what they deserved!
 
The stories I have are all JSU related when Merritt was coaching. Everybody back then was a little afraid of him. He was known to take some short cuts. LOL. One story from the 70s was classic. Joe 747 Adams was supposed to go to JSU. He was from Gulfport. Well it was said that ole Merritt went and got Joe himself from Gulfport to bring him to Nashville and keep him from JSU. Now how true that was is anybody's guess. But Merritt after he left JSU took some players with him and actually got a couple from SU too.
.

He also took uniforms and equipment. Ole boy cleaned us out lol.
 
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One of my uncles was a Highway Patrolman back when Cooley was at Valley. And he and the other black troopers escorted the team whenever they travelled. He tells this story (don't know how true it is), but it sounds possible, considering we're talking about Cooley.

"When Valley came to Jackson to play Alcorn (on that Sunday), the Valley buses arrived at the Stadium and parked in their normal spot, in that circle in behind the locker-room building. Alcorn's buses (and players) were already unloading. My uncle said Cooley ran off the bus yelling and pointing. He said the offense ran off the bus (in sweat pants) and lined up in a 5-wide formation, right there in the parking lot. Totten was barking signals and (I forget the slot receivers name, not Rice, the short guy) goes in motion from left to right. Totten gets the snap and drops back. Nobody sees where the slot receiver ran (at least not yet). Totten holds it, holds it, and then cocks that cannon and throws a rocket OVER the scoreboard..... Everybody's looking at the ball sail over the scoreboard. Then you hear fans (already in the stands) cheering and shouting...


That dad-gum boy had run around the locker room and was streaking down the middle of the field and CAUGHT that ball...... :D:D

And Cooley was telling everybody that was around, "See, I tolja we was coming off the bus chunkin' da dayum ball"...

My uncle told that story for 30 years, at least...

Don't know if it's true.... But that's what I was told......


:D:D:D
 
One of my uncles was a Highway Patrolman back when Cooley was at Valley. And he and the other black troopers escorted the team whenever they travelled. He tells this story (don't know how true it is), but it sounds possible, considering we're talking about Cooley.

"When Valley came to Jackson to play Alcorn (on that Sunday), the Valley buses arrived at the Stadium and parked in their normal spot, in that circle in behind the locker-room building. Alcorn's buses (and players) were already unloading. My uncle said Cooley ran off the bus yelling and pointing. He said the offense ran off the bus (in sweat pants) and lined up in a 5-wide formation, right there in the parking lot. Totten was barking signals and (I forget the slot receivers name, not Rice, the short guy) goes in motion from left to right. Totten gets the snap and drops back. Nobody sees where the slot receiver ran (at least not yet). Totten holds it, holds it, and then cocks that cannon and throws a rocket OVER the scoreboard..... Everybody's looking at the ball sail over the scoreboard. Then you hear fans (already in the stands) cheering and shouting...


That dad-gum boy had run around the locker room and was streaking down the middle of the field and CAUGHT that ball...... :D:D

And Cooley was telling everybody that was around, "See, I tolja we was coming off the bus chunkin' da dayum ball"...

My uncle told that story for 30 years, at least...

Don't know if it's true.... But that's what I was told......


:D:D:D

Sounds about right.
 
I do not know if someone brought up this. Did Casem recommend Cooley for the Southern job right before Richardson was hired?
 
One of my uncles was a Highway Patrolman back when Cooley was at Valley. And he and the other black troopers escorted the team whenever they travelled. He tells this story (don't know how true it is), but it sounds possible, considering we're talking about Cooley.

"When Valley came to Jackson to play Alcorn (on that Sunday), the Valley buses arrived at the Stadium and parked in their normal spot, in that circle in behind the locker-room building. Alcorn's buses (and players) were already unloading. My uncle said Cooley ran off the bus yelling and pointing. He said the offense ran off the bus (in sweat pants) and lined up in a 5-wide formation, right there in the parking lot. Totten was barking signals and (I forget the slot receivers name, not Rice, the short guy) goes in motion from left to right. Totten gets the snap and drops back. Nobody sees where the slot receiver ran (at least not yet). Totten holds it, holds it, and then cocks that cannon and throws a rocket OVER the scoreboard..... Everybody's looking at the ball sail over the scoreboard. Then you hear fans (already in the stands) cheering and shouting...


That dad-gum boy had run around the locker room and was streaking down the middle of the field and CAUGHT that ball...... :D:D

And Cooley was telling everybody that was around, "See, I tolja we was coming off the bus chunkin' da dayum ball"...

My uncle told that story for 30 years, at least...

Don't know if it's true.... But that's what I was told......


:D:D:D
I remember seeing footage on BET back in the day of Alcorn players running towards Valley's sideline, getting on their knees and acting as if they were pulling out their pistols....at the time, I didn't know what all of that was about, but this above explains everything to me...
 
AT the end of the day.... Its all true good and bad.... But that is one moral of this story.... If your gonna cheat.... Win in the process...

Cooley did it
Cole did it
SMU did it
Texas A&M did it...

But this has been one of the funniest threads ever..

And too say that Johnnie Cole has not reached this level of cheating is downright HILARIOUS
 
I remember seeing footage on BET back in the day of Alcorn players running towards Valley's sideline, getting on their knees and acting as if they were pulling out their pistols....at the time, I didn't know what all of that was about, but this above explains everything to me...

All I can say is......"General Ike Holt" and the Soul Patrol!
 
One of my uncles was a Highway Patrolman back when Cooley was at Valley. And he and the other black troopers escorted the team whenever they travelled. He tells this story (don't know how true it is), but it sounds possible, considering we're talking about Cooley.

"When Valley came to Jackson to play Alcorn (on that Sunday), the Valley buses arrived at the Stadium and parked in their normal spot, in that circle in behind the locker-room building. Alcorn's buses (and players) were already unloading. My uncle said Cooley ran off the bus yelling and pointing. He said the offense ran off the bus (in sweat pants) and lined up in a 5-wide formation, right there in the parking lot. Totten was barking signals and (I forget the slot receivers name, not Rice, the short guy) goes in motion from left to right. Totten gets the snap and drops back. Nobody sees where the slot receiver ran (at least not yet). Totten holds it, holds it, and then cocks that cannon and throws a rocket OVER the scoreboard..... Everybody's looking at the ball sail over the scoreboard. Then you hear fans (already in the stands) cheering and shouting...


That dad-gum boy had run around the locker room and was streaking down the middle of the field and CAUGHT that ball...... :D:D

And Cooley was telling everybody that was around, "See, I tolja we was coming off the bus chunkin' da dayum ball"...

My uncle told that story for 30 years, at least...

Don't know if it's true.... But that's what I was told......


:D:D:D
See stuff like this made the SWAC the SWAC :) . We were so busy trying to be PC , we lost our identity. That was our niche.
 
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