One of the fondest memories in the 39-year career of coach and educator John Payton
was the 18-17 win over the top-ranked Baylor Bears in 1981 at Cardinal Stadium.
Larry Kennan was the Cardinals’ head coach at the time. Payton would eventually
serve as assistant coach for four Cardinal head coaches before hanging up his own coach’s
whistle in 1982.
A two-time All-American running back at Prairie View A&M University, Payton still
holds the distinction of second all-time leading rusher in school history. He played basketball
and ran track for the Panthers and earned All-Academic Athletic Team honors in 1955. The
1952 graduate of Dunbar High School in Livingston earned the bachelor’s and master’s
degrees at Prairie View before embarking upon an impressive coaching career.
“I was drafted by the Chicago Bears,
but an injury kept me from playing pro
football,” he said. “That injury ended my
football career. So, I decided to do the next
best thing, and that was to coach.”
He began his career at Scott High
School in Woodville, where he posted backto-
back state championships in 1957 and
1958, compiling an amazing 77-7 record.
After one year as a head coach at Dunbar
Junior High School in Beaumont, he spent
the next 11 years at Beaumont’s Charlton-
Pollard High School as head
coach for the basketball and track
teams and offensive coordinator
for the football program. His
basketball teams won a district
championship in 1962 and a
state championship in 1964. His
track squads were successful as
well, winning University
Interscholastic League district
and regional championships.
Payton joined the Lamar
University coaching staff in 1970
as the running backs coach, the
first black coach in university history,
at the urging of then-athletics
director J.B. Higgins. He
split time between the football
and track programs as an assistant
coach. During his first year
coaching track, the Cardinals
won the Southland Conference
championship. In his second
year as coach, they tied for the
conference crown.
“I was a little apprehensive
about making the move to
coaching in the college ranks,” he
confided. “I had never coached
white players, and I didn’t know
what to expect. But, every year,
things just kept getting better as the players
began to realize you knew your business and
were there to help them succeed.”
After a successful 1981 campaign, head
coach Larry Kennan left the Cardinals for
the pro ranks, and Payton stepped in during
spring workouts as interim head coach. Ken
Stephens was eventually tapped to lead the
Cardinals and immediately named Payton
his assistant head coach. The 1982 season
would be his last year coaching on the gridiron,
and, after more than 25 years, he
retired from coaching to focus his attention
on the classroom. Serving as associate
professor in the department of health
and kinesiology, Payton has recently been
honored by his colleagues with a named
endowed scholarship.
“For many students in Southeast Texas
who were enrolled at Lamar in the ’70s, he
was their first teacher of color, and his
impact on race relations at Lamar has been
enormous,” said Bernadette Moore, assistant
professor in health and kinesiology and a
member of the scholarship committee.
“This is the first scholarship to be offered in
the department, and we thank Coach
Payton for allowing us the honor of establishing
the scholarship in his name.”
Laurie Ritchel, associate director for
development, assisted in setting up the
scholarship fund for the health and kinesiology
department. Often, named scholarships
take many months or sometimes years to
reach the threshold of becoming endowed.
But the Coach John Payton Scholarship
fund took off like a rocket, with donations
pouring in from colleagues, businesses and
organizations who had worked with Payton
and even his former students. According to
Ritchel, most of the donation forms that
came into the development office had personal
notes of admiration, love and praise
for Coach Payton. She said his has been the
named scholarship to reach endowed status
fastest in recent memory.
During his career, Payton
has been inducted into numerous
halls of fame, including the
Prairie View A&M Athletics Hall
of Fame, Prairie View A&M
Interscholastic League Hall of
Fame and the Southeast Texas
Coaches Association Hall of
Honor. In 2003, he was inducted
into the Cardinal Hall of Honor,
and, in 2005, he was honored as
an inductee into the Texas Black
Sports Hall of Fame. He also
received the State of Texas
Distinguished Service Award for
basketball officials.
“I really appreciated the
award for officiating, probably
more than any other award
I’ve received,” he said. “When
you’re officiating, you try to be
as fair as possible to everyone in
all circumstances. This award,
to me, is an acknowledgement
by my peers of being fair and
impartial throughout my many
years of officiating. That’s a
good feeling.”
His most recent award came
in 2008 when he earned the
Lamar University Merit Award.
With receipients selected by a universitywide
committee from nominees from each
college, the award recognizes outstanding
classroom performance and excellent interactions
with students.
“Students who have taken John
Payton’s classes praise his expertise, his
accessibility and his attention to their personal
needs,” said Hollis Lowery-Moore,
dean of the College of Education and
Human Development.
