James Odus Mitchell (June 26, 1899 – July 5, 1989) was an American football player and coach.

Mitchell was also a catalyst for the integration of college football in the state of Texas, as he instituted a policy allowing "any African American students who showed interest in the football team to be given a fair chance" while he was the head coach at North Texas.

He extended a partial scholarship offer to incoming African-American freshmen Abner Haynes and Leon King in 1956, promoting them to the varsity squad in 1957.

In the summer of 1965, he also recruited future National Football League Hall of Famer Mean Joe Greene from all-black Dunbar High School in Temple, Texas.

The ferocious Greene-led defense allowed an average of less than two yards per carry in 1966, Mitchell's final season at North Texas, earning the team the nickname "Mean Green," which stuck and is now the official mascot of the university to this day.