Jack S. Brayboy

Jack S. Brayboy (May 2, 1921 – September 1, 1976) was an American football player, coach, teacher, and university administrator, all at Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Brayboy was a three time "Negro All-American" and was named as "Colored Player of the Year" by Football News following his 1942 senior season with the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls football team.

Brayboy was head coach of the Golden Bulls from 1950 to 1952. He later earned a PhD degree and worked in university administration as a vice-president at JCSU.

Brayboy is a 1976 inductee of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (née Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association) Hall of Fame and a 2015 member of the Vineland High School Hall of Fame. He is also the namesake of Jack S. Brayboy Gymnasium, home venue for volleyball and basketball at JCSU.

Biography Early life Brayboy was born on May 2, 1921, in Vineland, New Jersey, and he attended Vineland High School in that city. Brayboy earned varsity letters in football, basketball, and track and field before graduating in 1939. He was instrumental in helping Vineland win New Jersey state football championships in 1937 and 1938. Brayboy was named to the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association for four successive years, beginning with his freshman season in 1939. He was also named an All-American following the 1940, 1941, and 1942 seasons. He graduated from the school in the spring of 1943.

After a brief leave of absence to focus on studies, Brayboy was named head football coach of the Golden Bulls from in September 1949. In his inaugural season he led the team to a 3–4–1 record and a win in the Iodine Bowl. In four seasons as head coach he led the team to an overall record of 13–16–2 before he resigned after the 1952 season. His best year came in his last where he led the team to its best record since 1944.

Life after football Brayboy married the former Jeanne Martin, a long-time friend of Martin Luther King, Jr. who held a master's degree from Boston University, in December 1954. The couple lived in Charlotte, where Jeanne first worked as an elementary school music teacher. He was 55 years old at the time of his death. He was survived by his wife, Jeanne, his son Jack S. Brayboy III, and a daughter.

In 1976 Brayboy was inducted into the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association Hall of Fame.

He was named a member of the Vineland High School Hall of Fame in 2015.

At the time of his death, his longtime friend and coworker, Eddie McGirt, head of the athletics department at JCSU, remembered Brayboy as an outstanding campus personality. "He never wanted to see anybody taken advantage of and was always sympathetic to people in need," McGirt told the Charlotte News. "He helped a lot of students and was always willing to listen to their problems."

Head coaching record