Earl Banks        

Earl Banks attended Wendell Phillips High School in Chicago, Illinois. He was an all-state selection in 1943.

He played guard for the Hawks from 1946 until 1949, and was an All-Big Ten and All-America selection.

After graduating from Iowa in 1950, he joined the New York Yankees of the old American Football Conference (pre-NFL), but an injury cut his professional playing career short after just one season.

He was head coach at Morgan State from 1960-73 and completed his career with a .839 win-loss percentage. His 1965-68 teams won 31 straight, the seventh longest winning streak in college football history. He also had three unbeaten regular seasons, five CIAA conference championships and led the Bears to four bowl games. He was the CIAA Coach of the Year three times (1962, 1965, and 1966). During the 1966 season, Morgan State became the first historically black college team to win an integrated bowl game, and did so on network television (ABC).

In 1992, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and was named the American Football Coaches Association’s recipient of the 2018 Trailblazer Award.

Born 6/11/1924 and died on 10/27/1993 at the age of 69.