Bert C. Piggott

Bert Cody Piggott Sr. (Pronounced: PIG-et) (March 5, 1920 – January 10, 1999) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Illinois, where he was a member of that school's victorious 1947 Rose Bowl team, going on to play one year as a halfback for the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).

Piggott later served as the head football coach at North Carolina A&T University from 1957 to 1967, before being made athletic director and head of the school's physical education department.

Biography Early life Bert Piggott was born March 5, 1920, in Norge, Virginia, an unincorporated community in James City County near Williamsburg. His mother, Victoria Piggott, died when Bert was five and his father Arthur, unable to raise Bert and his siblings, sent them to live with relatives.

He would win the Illinois state high school boxing championship in the heavyweight division. He graduated from Hinsdale High in June 1939.

College football and World War II Piggott attended the University of Illinois, where he showed excellent passing skills as a member of the freshman team in 1939 season. After his promotion to the varsity in 1940, Piggott was shifted to fullback, where he played a reserve role.

His chance to play on the varsity came as a junior in mid-October 1941, when starting fullback Myron Pfeifer suffered a sprained ankle, thrusting Piggott into the spotlight in a game against Notre Dame.

Bert Piggott in a leather helmet as a member of the Los Angeles Dons in 1947. Following spring practice for the forthcoming 1942 season, what was supposed to be his senior year, Piggott was projected as the team's reserve blocking back in new Illinois head coach Ray Eliot's single-wing offense. Piggott was declared ineligible ahead of the 1942 season, however, for reasons unspecified in the press.

World War II intervened. Piggott became part of the United States Army Air Forces, serving as a physical training officer for cadets at Tuskegee Air Fields at Tuskegee, Alabama, He also played service football for the Tuskegee War Hawks in 1944 and 1945, gaining accolades as a "rip-roaring University of Illinois star" at the single-wing blocking back position. In the first game of the 1945 season, Piggott hit a 50-yard touchdown pass to teammate Jerry Williams, formerly of Miami of Ohio, helping to lead Tuskeegee to a 25–0 shutout victory over the LeJeune Panthers, members of the US Marines. He carried the ball 46 times for 161 yards during the year, also snagging 7 passes for 63 yards through the air. After playing throughout the preseason, he was uncermoniously cut by the team, together with end Ezzrett "Sugarfoot" Anderson, on the eve of the team's August 27 season opener against the Chicago Rockets. This puzzling roster move left halfback Linwood Sexton and center John Brown the only two black players on the Dons' roster in 1948. Leigh charged that "Critics say that coach Jimmy Phelan, who replaced [Dudley] Degroot, never relished the idea of having colored players on his teams, even when he coached at St. Mary's and at Washington State." The offer of an assistant coaching post at A&T was made by head coach William M. Bell, Piggott's head coach with the Tuskegee War Hawks during the war. He also coached boxing at the school, with his A&T boxing team capturing the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championship in March 1955.

Another task was added to Piggott's portfolio in 1956, when he was named head coach of the A&T baseball team — a unit coming off a CIAA crown of their own in 1955.

In June 1957, North Carolina head football coach Bill Bell was forced out by boosters after a disappointing 1956 season and Piggott was named his successor. He remained at the helm as head coach for 11 years, compiling a record of 55–39–2 and leading the Aggies to three conference championships. At the time of his retirement, Piggott was considered the most successful coach in school history.

Head coaching record Football