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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCoach Delley & the Panthers A bit more than school pride -. . \ I.' IJerome Delley Jr. holds up ~ Plct~re of the 1950 Lincoln School football team, which he coached, In College Station on it '1',"J ':~g1e photo/Butch Ireland Wednesday afternoon. Delley coachecl':at the school fOrc"C16 years. ,,>, '~~,. ' ". CS exhibit celebrates coach's time at all-black Li~~2ln ~cho.ol, . . .; .. 1:r,~, .. '_ .. By APRn.. A VISON , Eagle Staff Writer Jerome De~eYfJr. recalls a tll11e when a ;.-. ""bJPlch of "country boys,T picked cotton'all day, thEm'rode, their bicycles to practice football at the Lin- coln School near Holleman Drive. Delley remembers those days because he's the one who taught the boys how to play football more than 50 years ago. The 82-year-old soft-spo- ken College Station resi- dent reminisced Wednesllay about his tenure as coach of the Lincoln Panthers from 1949 to 1965. A collection of photos, letter jackets, news- paper articles,and trophies is on display at the College Station Conference Center, and Delley and his wife, Ethel; viewed the exhibit for the fIrst time Wednes- day. "When we fIrSt started, I had to teach them football, and they were willing to~ learn," Jerome Delley said. "After they'd been picking 100 or 200 pounds of cotton, they'd come practice foot- ball for another two hours. When I saw they were doing that, I said, 'We've got a chance. They've got good minds. They just need a teacher.''' Delley's story brings to mind visions of an inspira- tional movie. The coach, a former football player at Hearne High School and Wiley College, taught the boys and became their men- The exhibit "Panther Pride: Coach:l~'ror;,e Delley Jr. and the Lincoln Panther Football Team" is on display at the College Station Conference Center. The exhibit, sponsored by Col- lege Station's Historic Online Library Database, is free and i open to the public. For more information about Project HOLD, visit http://HOLD.cstx.gov. "., ~ " .._~ . '.~' ~F tor. Because the students didn't have uniforms, Del- ley picked up some spare practice clothes from Bear Bryant, who at the, time was Texas A&M Universi- ty's football coach. A home economics teacher dyed the uniforms to match the Pan- ther colors of purple and gold. ' "I tell you, I wish you could have seen it," Delley said, wiping.his eyes with a handkerchief. "I wish you could see somebodies come from nobodies. Now they won't come home for a visit without coming to see me." In August, a group.of Del- ley's former players hosted a "roast and toast" for the . coach at the Lincoln Cen- ter. People came from Cali-, fornia, Rhode Island and illinois for the event, Ethel Delley said. f 'I. "You' could Jell' ho~ mU9:tt I Ir.tliey care for him," she said., "They were some of the best . that came through Lincoln." Among the guests were Icurrent A&M Consolidated .football coach Jim Slaughter 'land a few of his players. Public education has come la long way since the "A&M ..Consolidated Negro School" ! ,opened its seven-room build- ~ing in 1941. The name was iChanged to Lincoln School in 1946. Public schools in the area began integrating in the early . . '1960s, and the College Station school board decided in 1965 ;(11 years after the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education) that any student who wanted to attend A&M Consolidated High' School - which former- ly had been' the white school - could do so. In early 1966, there was ,no longer an option. The Lincoln School burned, and all the students had to go to A&M Consolidated. Wliat'S'iiOWKilown as tlie Lincoln Center was rebuilt on the property near Holleman Drwe.Thecenteroffersafte~ school programs for children and operates the College Sta- tion Boys and Girls Club. ' Ethel Delley, who taught at Lincoln School, continued teaching in the College Sta- tion school system, but the integration changes left her husband without a job. His position at Lincoln School was Jerome Delley's fIrst and last as a football coach. He joined the Job Corps and worked temporary jobs for a while, later earning a coun- seling degree at Sam Houston State University and becom- ing a truant officer. He retired in 1986. . Anne Boykin, a College Sta- tion historian, remembers when the schools became integrated because the black students, many of whom had played for Delley's Panther football team, came to A&M Consolidated High School, which she attended. Boykin graduated from Consolidated . in 1967. "The new kids came over . pretty much overnight," she saia:-"Cdon't recall having any [racial] problems of any kind." Boykin compiles College Station's Historic Online Library Database, also referred to as Project HOLD, and said she recalled memo- ries of the Lincoln Panther football team as she was gath- ering information for the Web site. "I remember that was one of our highlights, when the Lincoln football team would play at Tiger Stadium," Boykin said. "They played on our fIeld occasionally, and we'd go to their games. They were so colprful, so animat- ed." She put together the exhib- it about the team, which is on display at the conference center on George Bush Drive. As Delley looked over the old photos Wednesday, he . smiled and said he had great memories but didn't want to brag about himself. "I've always believed you , should let your work speak for you," he said. . April Avison's e-mail address is april.avison@theeagle.com. . ..