Editor's note: On Sunday, March 3 at 10 a.m. ET, ESPN Classic will air an "ESPN Classic Special Presentation" on Willie Jeffries, the first African-American Division 1-A football coach.

At South Carolina State in the 1970s, Willie Jeffries established himself as one of the best football coaches at a black college. He was so good that several predominantly white schools considered hiring him. He chose Wichita State because of its sincerity; he wouldn't simply be an affirmative-action hire.

	Former South Carolina State coach Willie Jeffries, right, led the Bulldogs to six Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles.

And so, on Sept. 1, 1979, Jeffries became the first African-American to lead a team in a Division I-A game. He stayed at Wichita State for five seasons, ultimately returning to South Carolina State, retiring there in 2001 as a regional hero.

In his stay at Wichita State, Jeffries found limited success, leading the team to an 8-3 mark in 1982 for the beleaguered program's second winning season in 19 years. But after the Shockers were placed on probation for NCAA rules violations committed by Jeffries and his staff, he lasted only one more season. His record with the Shockers was 21-31-2.

Jeffries retired with a 170-140-6 mark over 29 seasons at South Carolina State, Wichita State and Howard. His South Carolina State teams won black national championships in 1976 and 1994 and captured six Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles.

A disciplinarian, Jeffries often began practice at dawn and demanded that his players graduate and become productive members of society. "My goal was to be a good coach," he said, "but I also wanted to make a difference in the lives of young men."

He was born on Jan. 4, 1937 and grew up in Union, S.C. His father, John, died when he was four, leaving Willie and his younger brother to the care of his mother, Irene, a domestic. To help pay the $26 monthly mortgage, young Willie took a job as a caddie/bartender at an all-white country club.

After a solid athletic career, playing baseball, basketball and football at Sims High School, Jeffries accepted a scholarship to South Carolina State, an all-black college. He played center and linebacker on the football team and pitched for the baseball team. During his sophomore year, the Pittsburgh Pirates offered him a contract, but Jeffries said no thanks and remained in school.

Soon after graduating in 1960 with a degree in industrial education, he had to decide between taking a job as an apprentice engineer with the South Carolina highway department or becoming an assistant football coach at Barr Street High School in Lancaster, S.C. Jeffries chose the latter.

The next year he became head coach at Granard High in Gaffney, S.C ., where he would spend seven seasons and win three straight state championships (1964-66). But college football soon beckoned. Jeffries became defensive coordinator at North Carolina A&T in 1968 and stayed until 1972, when he became the defensive line coach for Johnny Majors at Pitt.

After only one season at Pitt, Jeffries returned to his alma mater as head coach. He inherited a team that went 1-9 and immediately transformed it into a winner, posting a 7-3-1 record. Jeffries was named MEAC Coach of the Year.

"When he came in, he brought discipline to the team," said Harry Carson, who later became an All-Pro linebacker with the New York Giants. "And he started bringing in his own players. He stressed physical conditioning and weight training. Defensively we were awesome."

The Bulldogs were just getting started. They won eight games in each of the next two years before rolling to a 10-1 record in their national championship season of 1976. After running his streak of MEAC titles to five in 1978 and his record at South Carolina State to 50-13-4, Jeffries became a pioneer in college football. One week before his 42nd birthday, Jeffries was introduced as the new head coach at Wichita State. He signed a four-year contract to take over a program that had gone through seven head coaches in 15 seasons. The rebuilding started slowly. The Shockers went 1-10 in Jeffries' first season before climbing to 5-5-1 in 1980.

"The most difficult thing I had at Wichita, in order to have a first-rate program, was recruiting good athletes to the plains of Kansas," Jeffries said.

After going 4-6-1 in 1981, the Shockers went 8-3 the next season, including a 13-10 upset of in-state rival Kansas in their first meeting in 36 years. Just when it appeared as if Wichita State had turned the corner the NCAA announced its sanctions. The Shockers were placed on two years probation -- reduced scholarships, no television or postseason -- stemming from recruiting violations.

An NCAA report said a recruit received cash from Jeffries to pay for transportation expenses. The report also said the player and his mother were instructed by Jeffries to lie when the NCAA contacted them on the matter. Jeffries stayed the following season -- the Shockers fell to 3-8 -- before resigning.

"That was really a tough blow to me and my coaching profession," Jeffries said. "A huge disappointment to me and I think all of our black coaches."

He became head coach at Howard, a predominantly black university in Washington, D.C. Taking control of a team that had finished 1-9 and returned only 39 veterans, Jeffries filled the roster with 41 freshmen. The Bison struggled to 2-8 and 4-7 in Jeffries' first two seasons before going 8-3 in 1986. But Howard went winless the following season before rebounding to 7-4 in 1988. Jeffries then returned to South Carolina State.

The Bulldogs marked Jeffries' return with two losing seasons in which they went a combined 9-12 before reeling off five straight winning years, including going 10-2 in 1994. That season ended with a 31-27 victory over Grambling in the Heritage Bowl and a second black national championship for Jeffries.

South Carolina State returned to the Heritage Bowl in 1997, losing to Southern 34-28 and finished 9-3. Three straight losing seasons followed. Jeffries then announced his intent to retire following the 2001 season. The Bulldogs sent him out a winner by defeating Norfolk State 16-10 to go 6-5. Jeffries was 128-77-4 in his 19 seasons at South Carolina State.

"I guess it was my niche in life to become a coach," Jeffries said. "But over the years as I look back, I will always cherish the fact we helped young men become productive citizens."