Atlanta Native - A Coaches’ & Players’ Coach                                                                

Written By Gordon Pynes

Being inducted into a Hall of Fame is nothing new for Coach Freddie James.  He already has been honored as an inductee to the Dallas Coaches Hall and more recently as a member of the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame.  However, when told he had been selected for the 2019 Class of the Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame (HOF) he exclaimed “It would be my greatest honor”.  Reason being, Freddie James was raised in Atlanta and was an outstanding sports star for the Booker T. Washington Wolverines graduating in 1956.  He then went on to play football at Prairie View A&M.  Oddly enough, he was a teammate at both schools with Jimmie Lee Hunt who was selected to the first class of the newly established Atlanta HOF last Fall.    

Following his college graduation, James was working in a Houston hospital as a physical therapist.  Stopping in for lunch, he ran into his college coach.  His mentor began urging Freddie to become a coach.  Consulting his wife, James made the leap into the coaching ranks in 1964 and began in the small Central Texas town of Calvert.  Spending four successful years there, he moved to Dallas and was hired as a head baseball coach.  He really didn’t feel suited for baseball but soon had his team in the finals game of the Prairie View Interscholastic League.      

School integration was begun in Dallas during 1971 and James took a job as an Assistant Football coach at David Carter High School in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas.  He would remain there for the next 25 years, becoming Head football coach of the Carter Cowboys in 1982 and retire in 1996.  His record during those 14 seasons is amazing in many ways.  His won – lost record reads 139 W-27 L-5 Ties.  That includes 7 seasons in which the Cowboys posted 10 or more wins.  They reached the state semi-finals in 1984 and won a state championship in 1988 with 14 wins and one tie.  The State football crown was the first for a Dallas ISD team since 1950.  This 1988 team is considered among the very best high school elevens to ever play football in Texas.  It produced 21 athletes who earned four-year college football scholarships and six went on to play in the NFL. Linebacker Jesse Armstead played for two NCAA Champs years with Miami and then produced several all-Pro seasons with the New York Giants to include a Super Bowl.      

Coach James as a coach was what every parent would hope for in guiding their young athletes.  His teams learned discipline which he strictly applied.  Freddie says that his Mother was a great influence on his approach to leading players.  He also attributes former Booker T. Washington basketball coach McNoble Harper as having a profound effect on his leadership style.  Harper was always quick to encourage each athlete.  James described himself as being a father figure for his players.  “I treated them as my own and many called me Dad,” he said. One obvious trait of the coach was he was always seen at the start of a ball game with a lollipop in his mouth.  Opposing coaches thought this was like a lucky charm for him and many Carter fans made sure he had the candy.  In actually, James was trying to kick a smoking habit and the lollipops helped him do it.      

The high school Wolverines ran the Single Wing football formation in the early 1950’s.  Then Coach James was introduced to the T at Prairie View.  However, during his coaching career he combined numerous offensive philosophies and ran multiple formations.  After defeating Converse Judson for the 1988 State Title it was noted that the winning Cowboys had used 17 different formations.  Though lauded for his offensive mind, James thought of himself as a defensive minded coach.  He certainly adhered to that old saying “defense wins championships”.  His 1988 team shutout six opponents and held 15 opponents to an average of just over 7 points a game.  Dubbed the “Eleven man posse” his defense swarmed every offense.    

The 1988 Carter Cowboys were stripped of their State Championship almost a year after winning it.  Going into the 1988 playoffs the UIL was informed that Carter had used an ineligible player due to a failing grade.  This immediately led to a brutal court battle during the next five weeks.  Cleared to play, Carter beat Plano East in the first round.  Then while loaded on the bus for the Friday night second round they were stopped.  During the night an injunction allowed them the second playoff game on Saturday afternoon.  This process continued all the way thru the State title game held at Cowboy Stadium.  During this trying time Coach Freddie James spent much of his time in Austin at UIL hearings.  He left his team in good hands and did some coaching by phone.  I asked how did he keep his team focused and motivated.  He answered “We prayed a lot as a team and I just had faith that it would all work out”.  Several movies and an ESPN documentary have chronicled this difficult situation.  First the film Friday Night Lights which highlight the Odessa Permian team that Carter knocked out in the semi-finals on a cold, rainy day at Memorial Stadium in Austin. Another movie entitled Dallas Carter which tells the story of the school and that frantic season.  Actor Charles Dutton portrayed Coach James although he looked nothing like the tall and lean coach from Atlanta, Texas.      

Freddie James was an outstanding coach based on his winning ways at Carter High School. At least 40 of his players had professional football careers.  However, his greatest contribution in the coaching ranks is how he influenced the adult lives of his many players over the years.  Today those ranks include doctors, lawyers, an Assistant Chief of Police, many pastors, and others successful in numerous occupations.  James stated, “I always urged them to make good choices in life”.  He is proud that most did.  Coach Freddie, as I have come to call him, certainly deserves the recognition to be a member of his hometown Hall of Fame.  His example and coaching skills reflect a true Atlanta Pride in one of our own. 

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place prior to the kickoff of the Atlanta-Liberty Eylau football game on September 20th.  Tax exempt donations to support the Atlanta Athletics HOF can be mailed to P.O. Box 637 in Atlanta.  A Black Granite plaque honoring Coach James will be placed on the Rabbit Stadium entry way wall prior to the induction event.