Ernest Hayes "Herc" Alley (June 4, 1904 – August 24, 1971)[1] was an American college football player, track athlete, and coach.
He served as head men's track coach at Vanderbilt University from 1949 to 1971.
[2][3] Alley was also the head football coach at Middle Tennessee State Teachers College—now known as Middle Tennessee State University—in 1939 and at Vanderbilt in 1943, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 6–6–1.
[6] In nine years of coaching high school football in Mississippi, Alley led his teams to a combined record of 77–17–6.
[7] Alley died after suffering a heart attack, on August 24, 1971, at his home in Nashville, Tennessee.