By Sylvester “Nunnie” Robinson
and Coach Joe Redmond
The Westside Gazette takes great pride in highlighting iconic HBCU Hall of Fame coach, Earl C. Banks, a native Philadelphian born on June 11, 1924. After moving to Chicago with his family, he attended Wendall Phillips High School where he became an all state football player as an offensive lineman. He was a stocky 5’8” 210 pound physically, gifted blocking machine. That athletic talent earned him a scholarship to the University of Iowa where he enjoyed a successful career from 1946-1949. He also played professionally for the New York Yanks in 1950. Coach Banks began his career as an assistant at Maryland State under our previously featured icon Vernon “Skip” McCain from 1951-1959. Coach Banks mirrored attributes espoused by his mentor: emphasis on student/athlete success beyond the gridiron, emphasis on education, professionalism, character and individual integrity. A statement from Coach Banks supports this philosophy—“ The players are going to be scholars first, they come for an education, and 90% of them get degrees – not just in physical education but in pre-medicine, pre-law and business. Two days a week I talk life, not football. College football is great for today’s life. The world is looking for leadership and discipline. College football offers that experience.” He also served as the school’s baseball coach from 1957-1959. If you recall Coach McCain achieved early and immediate success at Maryland State/Eastern Shore University; similarly, Coach Banks enjoyed even greater success at Morgan State College/Morgan State Universit from 1960 to 1973, compiling a record of 96–31–2, and as the athletic director from 1970 to 1983. A closer glance at specific won/loss records proves the point: in his first four years he went 3-3-1, 5-4, 8-1, and 8-2, after which things only got better. Subsequent records from 1964 to 1970 were as follows: 7-2, 9-0, 9-0, 8-0, 8-1, 6-4 and 8-2. He won 31 straight games from 1965-1968, the seventh longest streak in the history of college football, never had a losing season, ending his career with an overall won/loss record of 96-31-2, and .756 winning percentage. He won 2 bowl games including the ‘65 OBC against FAMU and the Tangerine Bowl, defeating West Chester (Pa.) in 1966.
My collaborator, Coach Joe Redmond, said this about Coach Banks: He was a principled man who didn’t take any short cuts. While at Northern Illinois he interviewed for a position on Coach Banks’ staff that went eventually to an older, more experienced coach with whom Coach Banks had prior knowledge and familiarity. Coach Redmond recalls a short time later being named the head coach at Maryland Easter Shore and competing against Coach Banks and Morgan State. After the highly competitive game, which Morgan won by 6 points, Coach Banks congratulated him, musing if he had made the right hire. That moment Coach Redmond would cherish and carry with him the remainder of coaching career. Coach Banks sent 41 players to the NFL, many of whom you are familiar even if you were only a casual fan: Willie Lanier, John Fuqua, Ray Chester, Leroy Kelly, Roger Brown and Sherman Plunkett. Coach Banks won 5 CIAA championships and 1 MEAC title ; however, the crowning jewel was the undefeated ‘67 team that was named National Black College champions. He was posthumously honored in 2018 as “Trailblazer of the Year, an award created by the American Football Coaches Association to honor HBCU pioneers who made significant contributions to the game.
To only mention his football accomplishments would be doing him a disservice. He was so much more: a husband, father, veteran, and philanthropist, having raised over one million dollars as chairman of the Baltimore Lafayette Square Community Center, Board Member of Help Unite Baltimore, Diabetes and Heart Associations, Prisoners’ Aid, Boy Scouts and Salvation Army among others. In 1992 Coach Earl Banks was inducted into College Football Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed on the very best of the best. Coach Banks tragically died in an automobile accident in Baltimore on October 27, 1993. Morgan State University, the city of Baltimore and America was better because of this giant of a man.
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