| Caesar Felton Gayles | |
| Birth Date: | 22 May 1900 |
| Birth Place: | Mississippi, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Muskogee, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Player Sport1: | Football |
| Player Years2: | 1920–1924 |
| Player Team2: | Morehouse |
| Coach Sport1: | Football |
| Coach Years2: | 1927 |
| Coach Team2: | Tennessee A&I |
| Coach Years3: | 1928–1929 |
| Coach Team3: | Arkansas AM&N |
| Coach Years4: | 1930–1957 |
| Coach Team4: | Langston |
| Coach Sport5: | Basketball |
| Coach Years6: | 1930–1965 |
| Coach Team6: | Langston |
| Overall Record: | 145–100–24 (football) 571–281 (basketball) |
| Bowl Record: | 2–1 |
| Championships: | Football 2 black college national (1939, 1941) 7 SWAC (1933, 1936, 1938–1940, 1944, 1949) |
| Cbbaskhof Year: | 2015 |
Caesar Felton "Zip" Gayles (May 22, 1900 – November 5, 1986) was an American college football and college basketball coach.[1] He served as the head football coach at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College—now known as Tennessee State University—in 1927, Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College—now known as University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff–from 1928 to 1929, and at Langston University from 1930 to 1957. He was also the head basketball coach at Langston from 1930 to 1965, tallying a mark of 571–281. Gayles was inducted into the Oklahoma Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974, the NAIA Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1986, and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.[2]
After graduating, Gayles took a faculty and coaching position at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College in Nashville, Tennessee, now called Tennessee State University. As the fourth head coach of the football, he led the squad to a record of 1–2–3 in 1927.[3]
Some records list his name as "Felton Gale" at this time but other records confirm that "Felton Gale" and "Caesar Felton Gayles" are indeed the same person.
Gayles was the head football coach at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College—now known as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff—for two seasons, from 1928 to 1929, compiling a record of 8–9–3.
Gayles coached for 35 years at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma. As the basketball coach from 1930 to 1965, his teams compiled a record of 571–281. He also was the football coach for 28 seasons, from 1930 to 1957, finishing with a record of 146–78–18. His teams were National Negro champions twice in both basketball and football.[4]
Gayles died on November 5, 1986, in Muskogee, Oklahoma.[5]