South Carolina S 676: A SENATE RESOLUTION TO CONGRATULATE DIANNE DOUGLAS THOMPSON UPON THE OCCASION OF HER RETIREMENT FROM THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, TO COMMEND HER FOR HER YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC SERVICE TO THE CITY OF CAMDEN AND THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, AND TO WISH HER CONTINUED SUCCESS IN ALL HER FUTURE ENDEAVORS.

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 676 Text of Previous Version (May. 28, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 676

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A senate RESOLUTION

TO CONGRATULATE Willie Jeffries FOR winning the 2024 
Maxwell HBCU award.

Whereas, the South 
Carolina Senate is pleased to learn that Willie Jeffries has won the 2024 
Maxwell HBCU award for contributions to HBCU football; and

Whereas, a native of 
Union, Mr. Jeffries grew up in a small, tightly-knit town in the segregated 
South. A hard worker in the classroom and on the field, Mr. Jeffries earned a 
scholarship to play football for South Carolina State College (now South 
Carolina State University), which afforded him an opportunity for higher 
education that might not otherwise have been accessible to him; and

Whereas, Mr. Jeffries began 
his football coaching career as an assistant coach at Barr Street High School 
in Lancaster in 1960. His years playing for the Bulldogs laid the groundwork 
for his career as a coach. He was a natural leader on and off the field, and 
his love of sports and education helped him easily transition from playing to 
coaching; and

Whereas, after a short period 
of time at Barr Street High School, Mr. Jeffries began his first head coaching 
assignment at Granard High School in Gaffney. Three consecutive state AAA 
championships later, it was clear he had a gift for leadership and winning 
football games; and

Whereas, in 1968, Mr. 
Jeffries was hired to coach the defensive line at North Carolina A&T. This would 
be the start of a remarkable run of thirty-four consecutive years of coaching 
at the collegiate level. He spent four seasons in Greensboro and one with the 
Pitt Panthers; and

Whereas, in 1933, 
needing a new head coach to succeed Oree Banks, South Carolina State turned to Mr. 
Jeffries, who hit the ground running in his debut at his alma mater. He won 
seven games with a squad that had gone 1-9 a year earlier. His early success as 
the Bulldogs coach attracted national notoriety as well as numerous coaching 
inquiries, including several as an assistant in the NFL; and

Whereas, in 1979, Mr. 
Jeffries accepted Wichita State's offer to become the first African American 
head coach of an NCAA Division 1-A (now FBS) football program. In 1984, he 
accepted the head coaching job at Howard University. He spent the next eighteen 
seasons leading successful HBCU programs, five with the Howard Bison and 
thirteen with South Carolina State; and

Whereas, over the 
years, Mr. Jeffries has earned a number of honors and awards, including three 
Black College Football National Championships, seven MEAC titles, five MEAC 
Coach of the Year honors, the Order of the Palmetto, and the Order of the 
Silver Crescent. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, the 
MEAC Hall of Fame, and the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame; and

Whereas, the Senate is 
grateful to Mr. Jeffries for his dedicated service to the people and the State 
of South Carolina and takes great pleasure in saluting him for receiving the 
prestigious 2024 Maxwell HBCU award for contributions to HBCU football. Now, 
therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, congratulate Willie 
Jeffries for winning the 2024 Maxwell HBCU award.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this 
resolution be presented to Willie Jeffries.

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This web page was last updated on May 28, 2025 at 12:22 PM