Curtis Frye

Curtis Frye
Image source: Ebony Herald, March 1975

In 1974, Curtis Frye became the first African-American coach at East Carolina University. Reportedly, ECU Chancellor Leo W. Jenkins hired Frye as head coach of the ECU men’s soccer team, and as director of facilities. Soccer was still a relatively new sport in the southeast, resulting in a dearth of coaching talent specific to that collegiate athletic competition. Thus, it was only after being hired that Frye, forced to learn on the job, watched his first soccer game, even while serving as head coach of the ECU men’s soccer team. Nevertheless, what followed for Frye was an outstanding career in coaching at ECU, NC State, UNC, the University of Florida, and finally the University of South Carolina. In 2018, in recognition of his exceptional achievements in collegiate and indeed Olympic-level coaching, Frye was inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame.

During his time at ECU, 1974-1979, Frye also served as an assistant track coach, helping to guide Pirate athletes to three Southern Conference championships. Frye gained important experience under the guidance of Bill Carson, head coach of the Pirate track and field team. Frye later referred to Carson as his “daddy in coaching,” crediting Carson with teaching him the basics of coaching. Pat Dye, hired as head football coach the same year Frye took the position coaching men’s soccer, also helped Frye learn the intricacies of recruiting.

The same year Frye was hired as ECU’s soccer coach, he graduated from ECU. A native of Vass, North Carolina, Frye served as the head track and field coach at Fayetteville’s Douglas Byrd High School from 1979 through 1984, following his historic years as ECU’s first black coach.

Between 1984 and 1988, Frye served as an assistant track coach at North Carolina State University where he led Wolfpack athletes to four conference championships. Athletes under his supervision during those years won 27 All-American honors. Between 1988 and 1992, Frye served the University of Florida as an assistant track and field coach, helping the Gators to three NCAA individual championships and one relay championship. In 1993, Frye returned to his home state, serving as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina, 1993-1996, helping to coach 13 ACC title squads.

In 1996, Frye was named head coach at the University of South Carolina. He subsequently led the Gamecocks produce 60 NCAA champions, 11 Southeastern Conference champions, 17 Academic All-America student-athletes, and more than 480 NCAA All-Americans during his 22-year tenure. During his entire career, Frye coached 28 Olympians who earned 14 medals. Nine of Frye’s former student-athletes competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Frye also served as an assistant coach for the 2004 USA Olympic women’s track team, working with the sprinters and the relays. He also accompanied some of his former athletes to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Prior to being inducted into the ECU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018, Frye was inducted, in 2013, into the U. S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In another historic breakthrough, Frye served as president of the U. S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the first African-American to do so.

Reflecting back on his time at ECU and its impact on his personal development, Frye remarked, “East Carolina gave me a chance to have leadership, be creative … I was going to impact the world. East Carolina prepared me to work with people of all genders, all races, all sizes … East Carolina is who I am. It’s about bringing a community and whole state together.”

Sources

Additional Related Material

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Citation Information

Title: Curtis Frye

Author: John A. Tucker, PhD

Date of Publication: 6/25/2019

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