BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " CLEVELAND ABBOTT " WAS A FOOTBALL PLAYER, COACH AND EDUCATOR : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

BLACK   SOCIAL   HISTORY                                                                                                                                           Cleveland Abbott

Cleveland Abbott

Sport(s)	Football, basketball
Biographical details
Born	December 9, 1892 Yankton, South Dakota
Died	April 14, 1955 (aged 62) Tuskegee, Alabama
Playing career
Football
c. 1915	South Dakota State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Football
1923–1954	Tuskegee
Basketball
1933–1936	Tuskegee
Head coaching record
Overall	203–96–28 (football) 27–18 (basketball)
Bowls	5–6
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Football 6 Black college national (1924–1927, 1929–1930) 12 SIAC (1924–1933, 1936, 1943)

Cleveland Leigh "Cleve" Abbott (some sources say "Cleveland S. Abbott") (December 9, 1892 – April 14, 1955) was an African-American football player, coach and educator.^[1]

Life

Officers of the United States Army's segregated 366th Infantry Regiment on board the RMS Aquitania, en route home from World War I service, Abbott at left

Abbott was born in Yankton, South Dakota in 1892, one of seven children. He graduated from high school in Watertown, South Dakota in 1912, and received his bachelor's degree from South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota in 1916. He was an outstanding, multi-sport athlete at Watertown High School (16 varsity sports letters) and SDSU (14 varsity letters at SDSU). After serving in Europe in World War I as an officer in the 366th Infantry Regiment, Abbott accepted a position as professor and coach at Tuskegee.^[2]

Abbott was the eighth head football coach for the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers located in Tuskegee, Alabama^[3] and he held that position for 32 seasons, from 1923 until 1954.

Abbott earned the respect of his peers through his team's performance and by participating in national committees for the selection of "all-American" players at the collegiate level.^[4]

Abbott died in 1955 in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Head coaching record

College

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs
Tuskegee Golden Tigers (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1923–1954)
1923	Tuskegee	7–1–1
1924	Tuskegee	9–0–1		1st
1925	Tuskegee	8–0–1		1st
1926	Tuskegee	10–0		1st
1927	Tuskegee	9–0–1		1st
1928	Tuskegee	6–1–4		T–1st
1929	Tuskegee	10–0		1st
1930	Tuskegee	11–0–1		1st	W Prairie View Bowl
1931	Tuskegee	10–2		1st
1932	Tuskegee	6–1		1st	L Prairie View Bowl
1933	Tuskegee	9–1–2		1st
1934	Tuskegee	6–5–1			W Prairie View Bowl
1935	Tuskegee	8–4
1936	Tuskegee	7–5		1st	W Prairie View Bowl
1937	Tuskegee	6–3–1
1938	Tuskegee	1–7–2			L Prairie View Bowl
1939	Tuskegee	3–7
1940	Tuskegee	5–4
1941	Tuskegee	8–2			L Orange Blossom Classic
1942	Tuskegee	7–3			L Vulcan
1943	Tuskegee	9–2–1		1st	W Vulcan
1944	Tuskegee	6–4–1			W Vulcan
1945	Tuskegee	6–6–1			L Prairie View Bowl
1946	Tuskegee	10–2			L Yam Bowl
1947	Tuskegee	6–4–1
1948	Tuskegee	4–4–1
1949	Tuskegee	4–6
1950	Tuskegee	2–5–2
1951	Tuskegee	6–3
1952	Tuskegee	2–6–2
1953	Tuskegee	2–6–2
1954	Tuskegee	3–5–1
Tuskegee:		206–99–27
Total:		206–99–27