MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Houston Markham, Jr., a native of Brookhaven, Mississippi, was a football player and coach.   Markham, who gained fame and notoriety as the head football coach of Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama from 1987 until 1997, will receive the Roscoe Nance Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously.
           
The Markham family will be presented the award on May 16 when the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Alumni Association holds its annual Legends Awards and Roast on the campus of Alabama State University, 915 South Jackson Street, Montgomery, AL in the J. Garrett Hardy Student Center.
           
During his 10-year tenure at Alabama State, Markham's team compiled a 69-47-4 record.  His best season at the helm of the Hornets came in 1991 when the team posted an 11-0-1 record and won the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship.  The only blemish on the Hornets' record was a 14-14 tie against Texas Southern.  The Hornets completed the '91 season by defeating North Carolina A&T, 36-13, in the inaugural Heritage Bowl, clinching the HBCU National Championship.
           
Markham is the winningest football coach in Alabama State history.  His coaching philosophy centered on discipline, fairness, and holistic player development emphasizing rigorous conditioning.   A man of humility who believed in demonstrating his philosophy, Markham walked two miles from his home to the football facility every day during his career at Alabama State.
 
 In June 2011, Alabama State opened 30,000 square feet, two story facility bearing the name Houston Markham Football Complex.  The facility houses football offices, academic study lab, meeting rooms, and other football related offices.
           
Two of Markham's former Hornet football players went on to prominent NFL careers.  Eddie Robinson (LB), presently the Alabama State head football coach, was drafted in the second round of the 1992 NFL draft by the Houston Oilers. He played 10 years in the NFL.  Reggie Barlow (WR) was drafted in the fourth round of the 1996 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.  He played seven years in the NFL. He is currently the head football coach at Tennessee State University.
           
Markham was a winning football coach his entire coaching career. After graduating from Alcorn State University in 1966, he took an assistant football coaching job at Temple High in Vicksburg, MS which was later named North Vicksburg High. He was named head coach of North Vicksburg in 1967.  During his eight years as head coach of North Vicksburg, he compiled a 66-16-1 record including a string of 40 consecutive wins over a five-year period.
          
  Markham took an assistant football coaching job at Jackson State University in Jackson, MS in 1975 where he served as linebacker coach, offensive line coach and later as an offensive coordinator.  During his 12 years (1975-1986) at JSU, the Tigers compiled a 93-37-2 record, won three outright SWAC titles, tied for two league crowns and made five trips to the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs.
          
  Markham is a member of the Alcorn State, Jackson State, and Alabama State sports Halls of Fame.  He was also inducted into the Vicksburg Warren School District Athletic Hall of Fame.
Coach Houston Markham passed on July 17, 2019, at the age of 75.
 
Tickets for the 23^rd Annual Legends Awards and Roast are $75 dollars each, with a table of eight (8) selling for $600 dollars. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/swac-alumni-association-annual-legends-banquet-and-roast-tickets-1986591428440?aff=oddtdtcreator  , or Zelle – swacalumni@gmail.com .

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Association's NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) program and will benefit a male and a female athlete from SWAC institutions.