By Roscoe Nance
Special to SWAC.org

Horace Crump's career as coach of Alabama State University's men's and women's cross country and track and field teams lasted much longer than he expected or intended that it would.

Crump, who will be inducted into the SWAC Hall of Fame Friday in Birmingham, Ala., took the job in 1977 to help the University, which was in a pinch after firing the previous coach. Crump's plan was to step down after one season, but one season became two; two seasons became three, and before he knew it, he had coached the Hornets for 31 seasons before he retired last year.

"They needed somebody for a period of time,'' says Crump, a track athlete and football player as an undergraduate at Alabama State from 1963-67. "Once I got in it, I said I may as well try to make the best team I could. I wasn't seeking the job, but I always thought I could make it coaching track. Once I saw the type of kids I was getting, I said, `This can continue to grow. If I work at it, this can be a solid program.' I figured I would dedicate everything I had to building a successful program.''

Crump practically built Alabama State's track program from scratch. When he took over, five women and six men were in the program.

"It was non-existent,'' he says, adding that the idea that his career would take him to the SWAC Hall of Fame never entered his thinking.

"The Hall of fame is something I couldn't even imagine, something I had never even considered. I am overwhelmed. I always think about the gospel song Give Me My Flowers While I'm Here. It looks like I got my flowers while I'm here to enjoy them.''

Crump took the program to what had been unthinkable heights. He guided Alabama State to 14 SWAC championships - one each in men's indoor and outdoor and four each in women's cross country, indoor and outdoor - from 2001-07; at least one of his teams won a conference title each of those years.

"I got lucky I guess," he says, adding that the foundation of his success was the caliber of student-athletes he recruited and having a quality staff working with him. "I had a good coaching staff, and we recruited good athletes, the kind who would fit in the program. I tried to recruit good student. You have to be able to keep them around. I looked for good student that I could train and teach it would work out from there."

Crump threw the discus and shot put as a collegian. When he became the Hornets' coach, his goal was to have a balanced team that could score points in the field events and the running events.

"The only way to win is to be balanced,'' he says. "We wanted to make sure we had someone in all events.''

Retired Southern University-New Orleans track coach Dr. Artis Davenport says Crump competed hard but always within the rules while fielding strong teams.

"He came in and won when Alabama State was down,'' Davenport says. "He had integrity. He didn't believe in breaking rules; he didn't play dirty. I respected him for that. His kids believed in him and respected him.''

Crump says the highlight of his career came in 2005 when his women's teams swept the cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field championships. However, he says leaving coaching with a good reputation and being well-respected by his peers are more important to him than being remembered as a coach who won a number of titles.

"I want to be remembered as a good coach, an honest coach,'' Crump says. "I put in the effort to help everybody, not just my team. I believed in doing the right thing. I cared about my kids. I tried to make them think their future and being a success, that there was a future and to work to get there.''