Famed HBCU coach, architect of the ‘Satellite Express’ that launched Jerry Rice, has died

Legendary college football coach Archie Cooley Jr. has died.

Cooley, who coached for more than 40 years, primarily at HBCU programs, died on April 18. He was 85.

Cooley was born in Sumrall, Miss., on March 18, 1939. He played college football at Jackson State (Miss.) before starting his coaching career on the high school level.

He started college coaching as an assistant at Alcorn State (1971-73) and then at Tennessee State (1974-79) before taking over his own program at Mississippi Valley State in 1980. It was at MVSU, in Itta Bena, Miss., that he gained national notice, coaching future NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice . Quarterback Willie Totten and Rice combined to give MVSU an explosive offense nicknamed the “Satellite Express.”

From 1983-85, the program posted a 24-7-1 record, the best mark in Cooley’s coaching career. Overall, he posted a 42-27-2 record in seven seasons at MVSU. He then coached at Arkansas Pine Bluff (1987-90 with a 27-13-2 record) and Norfolk State (1993, 3-7-1 record).

During a coaching hiatus in the late 1990s, he and his wife Georgia moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He then resurrected the football program at Paul Quinn College , where he coached the program from 2000-06, posting an 11-31 record. Cooley was living in Fort Worth at the time of his death.

Named to the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s hall of fame in 2007, Cooley finished his college coaching career with a collective 83-78-5 record.

Cooley’s family is living in Fort Worth, where son Dwight founded Belzoni’s Catfish Cafe, a Mississippi-style fish restaurant

Visitation will be held on Thursday, April 25, from 5-8 p.m. at Laurel Land Funeral Home, 7100 Crowley Road in Fort Worth. The funeral service will be held at noon Friday at Genesis United Methodist Church, 7635 S. Hulen Street, Fort Worth. Burial will be held on April 30 at 11 a.m. at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway.