Collin Eugene Arrington #43

Collin Eugene “Gene” Arrington was born in Greene County, North Carolina to Cristine Arrington and Harvester Locus. He grew up in a small town, attending Stantonburg Elementry School until the age of six.

At the age of seven, Arrington’s mother passed away and he lived with his grandmother until the age of eleven.  In 1960, Arrington’s grandparents passed away and he moved to Alexandria, Virginia to live with his Aunt and Uncle, Henry and Bessie Pender.

It was in Alexandria, Virginia at T. C. Williams High School that he became exposed to athletics.  Gene was a two-sport letterman in Track and Football.  Originally, Gene was recruited by Norfolk State University to run track, but he played football instead.  He was a member of the 1976, 1977 and 1978 CIAA Championship Teams.

Gene graduated from Norfolk State University and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Work.  He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in July 1975 and went on to retire from the Army, with the rank of Major, in August of 1995.  While in the Army, Gene earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Webster University.

At the age of thirty, Gene married Cynthia McBroom and they have an eight-year-old daughter named Crystal Renee Arrington.

After his retirement from the Army in 1995, Gene was hired by Coach Short as an Assistant Football Coach, Basketball Coach and Head Softball Coach at Oxon Hill High School, in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

In 1997, his family moved to North Carolina, where Gene is employed by the Cumberland County School System as an Exceptional Children’s Teacher at Westover High School, in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  Gene is presently the Assistant Head Football Coach, the Head Girl’s Basketball Coach; and the Softball Coach at Westover High School.

Gene credits his grandmother, Eva Arrington, as the person who most influenced his life and who taught him to love and care for people, regardless of their skin color.  His two sisters, Ethel and Wilma Arrington, encouraged Gene to remain in school and to become the first in their family to graduate from college.  Last but not least, Gene credits his coaches: Coach Hines, Coach Shaw, Coach Yoast, Coach Furman, Coach Johnson, Coach Dick Price and, The Godfather-Coach Herman Boone, whom Gene has emulated over the past 30 years.