Hall of Fame
Al Seagraves of Burlington, North Carolina, Class of 1975, was a standout football player for Shippensburg from 1971 to 1974. In 1974, his senior season, he was elected team tri-captain and proceeded to lead Shippensburg to its first winning season in six years. The Red Raiders went 7-4 and challenged for the PSAC Western Division title. He set a team single season record for tackles that year with 156. That record has since been broken but is still one of the highest in Shippensburg’s grid history. He also intercepted two passes for 12 yards and led the team in fumble recoveries with three. His career total of six fumble recoveries is the fourth highest in team history.
After the season, Seagraves earned many post-season honors. He was named first team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division and first team All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) at linebacker. The ECAC embraced dozens of teams from Maine to Virginia. He also was a first team selection on the Associated Press’ All-Pennsylvania team. That all-star team consisted mainly of major college players and Seagraves was rated with the best players from Penn State and Pitt.
Seagraves came to Shippensburg in the fall of 1971 from Boothwyn, Pa. where he played at Garnet Valley High School. He lettered as a freshman tailback and then played both fullback and halfback in Shippensburg’s Wishbone offense in 1972. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry with 53 tries for 221 yards. However, he missed two games with an injury that season.
In 1973 Seagraves was switched to linebacker on defense and he quickly established himself as one of the top players in the PSAC. He was named first team All-Conference for the first time in his career as he collected a team high of 105 tackles. He also intercepted two passes and was team co-leader in fumble recoveries with three.
Following his graduation from Shippensburg, Seagraves pursued a career in coaching. He became the head coach at Elon University, a NCAA Division I-AA team. His best season was in 1999 when Elon entered the ranks of Division I football and finished the season ranked 20th in the nation with a 9-2 record. Seagraves was a finalist for the NCAA Division I-AA Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award that season.
Prior to taking the head coaching reins at Elon, Seagraves served as an assistant coach at Shippensburg and then at the U.S. Military Academy from 1979 to 1982. From 1983 to 1985 he was defensive coordinator at Central Florida and then from 1986 to 1995 he was assistant head coach at The Citadel.
