Waco, Texas-Former Edward Waters head football coach Edward "Ox" Clemons has been selected to be the 2023 recipient of the Trailblazer Award from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the organization announced on Tuesday.

The AFCA Trailblazer Award was created to honor early leaders in the football coaching profession who coached at historically black colleges and universities. Past Trailblazer Award winners include Charles Williams, Hampton (2004); Cleve Abbott, Tuskegee (2005); Arnett Mumford, Southern (2006); Billy Nicks, Prairie View A&M (2007); Alonzo "Jake" Gaither, Florida A&M (2008); Fred "Pops" Long, Wiley (2009); Harry R. "Big Jeff" Jefferson, Bluefield State (2010); Edward P. Hurt, Morgan State (2011); Vernon "Skip" McCain, Maryland-Eastern Shore (2012); Marino Casem, Alcorn State (2013); Gideon Smith, Hampton (2014); Eddie Robinson, Grambling State (2015); Oree Banks, South Carolina State and West Virginia State (2016); John Merritt, Jackson State and Tennessee State (2017); Earl Banks, Morgan State (2018); Bill Hayes, Winston-Salem State and North Carolina A&T (2019); Edward Jackson, Delaware State, Johnson C. Smith and Howard (2021); and Henry Kean, Kentucky State and Tennessee State (2022).

Clemons had two tours of duty leading the Tigers on the gridiron, leading one of EWU's earliest teams from 1929-1932. Clemons led the 1927 team to the program's first Southeast Atlantic Conference Championship. Clemons later returned to Jacksonville in 1965, leading the squad to a 7-2 record, where his only losses that season were to Prairie View A&M and Kentucky State, and another SEAC Championship. 

Clemons also had coaching stints at Lane College where he led the Dragons for 12 seasons taking the squad to two postseason appearances in 1946 and 1974. He also led alma mater Morris Brown College from 1950-1962 earning an overall record of 72-45-2 and guided the Wolverines to a 10-1 record in 1951, going 8-0 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play and taking home his only Black College National Championship. Clemons led Morris Brown to 10 winning seasons during his 13 years as head coach, producing a second-place finish in the SIAC in 1955. Following his time at Morris Brown, he spent one season at Jackson State University in 1963, before returning to Jacksonville in 1965.

Clemons played college football at Paul Quinn College in Dallas, Texas, from 1922 to 1924 before transferring to Morris Brown College and playing alongside 2007 Trailblazer winner, Billy Nicks. Clemons earned his degree from Morris Brown, where he later became their head football coach from 1950 to 1962.

Clemons passed away in Jacksonville in 1966, but certainly left an indelible mark on not just Edward Waters football history, but his work is woven in the ever-growing fabric of HBCU football. According to a 1966 article in the Pittsburgh Courier, his student athletes described Clemons as, "Loyal, Respectful, and loved by all his players."

Clemons will be posthumously honored with the award during the 2024 AFCA Convention in January in Nashville, Tennessee.

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