MONTGOMERY – Thirteen major contributors to prep athletics in Alabama have been selected for induction into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame in the Class of 2023. The induction will take place at a banquet held at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Spa Convention Center next March. The Class of 2023 was selected Thursday at a meeting of the selection committee assembled by the Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association from more than 75 nominations submitted by member schools and other organizations.
The Class of 2023 include administrators, coaches and two selections from the “old timer” category.
Those individuals selected were: football coaches Paul Benefield, David Powell, Mike Robertson, and Trent Taylor; basketball coaches Homer Davis, Ronald Jackson; Tim Miller; Jack Steele, and John Woody; administrators Steve Giddens and Charles McCaleb; and selected in the “Old-Timers’ Division” were baseball and football coach William “Earl” Griffin and basketball coach Matthew L. Jones.
This group includes a football coach, Fyffe High School’s Benefield, who has compiled a stellar 332-55 career coaching record and is still going strong this season with his 13th 10-0 regular season in the last 22 years. Two active basketball coaches, Jackson and Miller, have compiled two of the longest winning streaks in state history. Jackson’s T.R. Miller girls won 62 in a row (1994-96), and Miller’s Hazel Green girls currently own a 59-game winning streak and five straight state titles heading into this season. Both coaches have won state titles at multiple schools.
And Griffin, selected as an Old Timer, guided Dallas County to a 48-game baseball winning streak in the 1970s. The group collectively have won numerous state championships in football, boys’ and girls’ basketball, baseball, and boys’ and girls’ track.
The Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association, the coaches’ wing of the AHSAA, oversees the Hall of Fame. A selection committee comprised of coaches, administrators and media representatives made the selections from a very impressive list of nominations.
“We thank the Hall of Fame Selection Committee for their dedication and thoroughness in selecting these very deserving individuals,” said Brandon Dean, Director of the AHSADCA. “These outstanding individuals, as well as all the nominees, have dedicated their lives to help promote and support education-based athletics. We cannot thank them enough for their service and sacrifice.”
Sponsors of the Hall of Fame program are the Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association (AHSADCA) and the AHSAA. The corporate partners include Alabama Power, ALFA, Coca-Cola, Encore Rehabilitation, Jack’s, Future 1s, TeamIP and Wilson Sporting Goods.
The first class was inducted in 1991. These 13 new inductees will run the total enshrined into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame to 390.
PAUL BENEFIELD: Fyffe High school’s current head football coach just completed leading the Red Devils to their 13th undefeated regular season (10-0). Benefield, 64,like many of this year’s Hall of Fame selectees, is a 1976 graduate of Fyffe High School. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Jacksonville State University in 1980 and earned his master’s in 1981.
He began his football coaching career back at his alma mater as an assistant coach from 1981-1987. He moved to DeKalb County rival Plainview from 1997 – 1992 and then took his first head-coaching position at another DeKalb County school Sylvania 1992. He compiled a 45-11 record in five seasons leading the Rams to back-to-back 12-1 seasons in 1994 and 1995. He moved back home to Fyffe in in 1997 and for the last 26 years has been nothing short of amazing.
This year’s team finished the regular season 10-0 for the 13th time in his tenure at Fyffe, and counting Sylvania’s back-to-back 10-0 regular seasons, give him 15 in 31 years as a head coach. Since taking over the Red Devils program, Fyffe has gone 287-44 with a 51-game winning streak from 2018-2021 and has been the AHSAA’s winningest football program for the last 20 years. His teams have won five state championships since 2014 and have finished runner-up twice (2007, 2015). His 2019 team outscored opponents 639-43, and his 2014 team set a then state record scoring 751 points in a 15-0 state championship run.
Fyffe two Class 2A crowns in going 15-0 each year in 2018 and 2019, moved to Class 3A in 2020 and finished 15-0 again to claim its third consecutive state title.
Benefield has compiled an incredible 332-55 record, which ranks third all time. His winning percentage of 85.8% is the best in state history for any coach winning more than 200 games. His teams put together a streak of 70 consecutive games scoring 20 or more points, his 58-23 playoff record is one of the best in the state, and his 29 state playoff appearances ranks fourth all-time in the AHSAA.
He was names Alabama Coach of the year in 2007 and 2014, and has coached in the AHSAA North-South and Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classics.
