Donald Edward Hudson (born November 20, 1929) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Macalester College from 1972 to 1975 and at Lincoln University of Missouri from 1976 to 1979, compiling a career college football record of 9–72–2. When he was hired at Macalester, Hudson became first African-American head football coach at a predominantly white college.
Hudson became the head coach in December 1971 when his predecessor, Dick Borstad, resigned. Macalester College barely publicized the milestone. As a result other universities, like Portland State and Oberlin College, later were reported to have hired the first African American college football coach. Don Hudson was most recently recognized for his breakthrough at half time of a Macalester game in October 2007. He was a quarterback for Lincoln University of Missouri and an assistant coach there through the fifties and sixties. He was soon offered a head coaching job at Minneapolis Central High School, where he was the first African American coach in that school’s league. He then took a coaching and teaching job at predominantly white Macalester College in 1971. He went 3–36 in his first four seasons as head coach of Macalester. He eventually moved on from Macalester after a losing effort, but he was able to break through the racial barrier in college football. He was a pioneer and paved the way for future African American coaches in modern college football.
Further reading
Weiner, Jay. Macalester's Hudson: The First, but Forgotten Until Now. ESPN, February 13, 2008.
Blount, Rachel. Macalester's Don Hudson: An Overdue Honor.Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN, October 4 2007.
