Archie “Gunslinger” Cooley, the coach who put collectively one of many best offenses in faculty soccer historical past, died Thursday at age 83.
Cooley was an HBCU lifer, taking part in at Jackson State from 1959-1961, graduating in 1962. After a highschool head coach stint, he started his collegiate profession because the line of defense and linebackers coach at Alcorn State earlier than transferring on to Tennessee State to function linebackers coach.
Nonetheless, his first head teaching job at Mississippi Valley State would flip Archie Cooley into “The Gunslinger.”
Two vital athletes, quarterback Willie “Satellite tv for pc” Totten and a receiver from Starkville named Jerry Rice, would change into the celebs of Cooley’s”Satellite tv for pc Categorical” offense, a five-wide, no-huddle assault that might later be copied by the Houston Oilers of the NFL, often called the “Run N’ Shoot” offense.
Totten and Rice terrorized defenders through the 1984 season on the way in which to the Delta Devils’ first and solely NCAA Soccer Championship Subdivision (then Division I-AA) event look.
Rice caught 112 passes for 1,845 yards, each FCS data on the time, and the 27 landing catches he hauled in have been an all-division NCAA file. Totten unfold the wealth round, throwing a then-NCAA file 58 landing passes till he was tied by Hawaii’s Colt Brennan in 2006.
The impression of Archie Cooley continues to be being felt in the present day in faculty and professional soccer 40 years later due to his revolutionary Satellite tv for pc Categorical offense
(🎥: MEAC Digital Community (Youtube))#MVSU #eleVateVState #HBCU #HBCUs #HBCUsMatter #VALLEYOfLegends #DeltaDevils #ArchieCooley pic.twitter.com/McWrL3ij2A
— MVSU Fanatics (@MVSUFanatics) April 18, 2024
Cooley completed his time at Valley with a 42-27-2 file earlier than main Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s transition from an NAIA college to a D-1 and SWAC program. Cooley completed 27-13-2 at UAPB and, after a short stint at Norfolk State, was out of teaching till he took over at Paul Quinn College in 2000. His profession mark as a coach was 83-75-5.
