Jake Gaither Alonzo Smith " Jake " Gaither ( April 11 , 1903 – February 18 , 1994 ) was the head football coach at Florida A & M University ( FAMU ) for 25 years , and amassed one of the best winning records of any college football coach . Gaither was born in 1903 in Dayton , Tennessee . His father was a preacher , and as a youth Gaither expected to also become a preacher . He graduated from Knoxville College , where he had played football , in 1927 . Gaither ' s father died around that time , and Gaither became a high school football coach to help support his family . Gaither later completed a master ' s degree at Ohio State University in 1937 . Gaither went to work as an assistant to head coach William " Big Bill " Bell at Florida A & M College for Negroes ( as it was called then ) in 1938 . The FAMC Rattlers had an undefeated ( 8 - 0 - 0 ) season that year , and won their first Black College National Championship . The school won the national title again in 1942 . Bell left to enter military service in 1943 . After two years of problems in the football program , Gaither was hired as the head football coach for Florida A & M College in 1945 . One story is that the president of the college could not find anyone else to take the job . Gaither worked very hard to motivate his players . He would say , " I like my boys to be agile , mobile , and hostile . " It is reported that he would hide an onion in his handkerchief to work up tears in his pre - game pep talks . He built up an effective recruiting network , and by the 1960s did not even bother to recruit players from outside the state of Florida . Gaither was dedicated to his job . After retiring , he told his biographer , " I run into so many people who have no deep sense of morals — people who got a price tag on them , who ' d sell their soul . I want to find the man who has no price tag on him . I ' m not for sale . " Gaither instituted an annual coaching clinic at FAMU in the late 1950s . He recruited major college coaches , including Paul " Bear " Bryant , Frank Broyles , Darrell Royal , Woody Hayes and Adolph Rupp , among others , to staff the clinics . Gaither introduced the Split - T formation in 1963 , and it was soon adopted at other colleges . In 1969 FAMU defeated the University of Tampa 34 - 28 in the South ' s first football game between a white college and a predominately Black college . Gaither also coached basketball and track in his early years as football coach . He later became Director of Athletics and Chairman of the Department of Health , Physical Education and Recreation at FAMU . He continued to hold the last two positions after he retired as coach until his retirement from teaching in 1973 . When Gaither retired from coaching in 1969 , his FAMU teams had a 204 - 36 - 4 ( wins - losses - ties ) record , for a . 844 winning percentage . Thirty - six players from Gaither ' s teams were All - America ns , and 42 went on to play in the National Football League . During his 25 years as head coach , FAMU won 22 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships . Gaither teams also won six Black College National Championships , in 1950 , 1952 , 1954 , 1957 , 1959 and 1961 . Gaither was named Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Decade . He was named College Division Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association in 1962 , and was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975 . He also received the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award that year , and the Walter Camp Football Foundation Man of the Year Award in 1974 . The Jake Gaither Trophy has been awarded to the best Black collegiate football player each year since 1978 . The Jake Gaither Gymnasium is located on the FAMU campus . Gaither died in Tallahassee in 1994 .