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Monday, June 16, 2008
Who’s headed to Georgia Coaches’ Hall of Fame?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Georgia Athletic Coaches Association inducted Bobby Gruhn of Gainesville, Oliver Hunnicutt of LaGrange and Jerry Sharp of East Rome and Darlington into its Hall of Fame earlier this month in Dalton.
That got me to thinking about which coaches, active and retired, will be inducted in the future.
I’ve broken it down into four lists below. Tell me what you think.
But first, let’s discuss the Class of 2008. Gruhn, Sharp and Hunnicutt are fine choices, but they make me wonder why they’ve made it and others have not.
For example, Gruhn was 256-102-5 in 30 seasons at Gainesville with no state titles. Compare that to Cedartown’s John Hill (254-89-5, no state titles) and Vidalia’s Buck Cravey (269-126-4, one state title).
Hill and Cravey are not in.
Should a state title be required? Newly retired Jim Dorsey of McEachern (237-78-1) likely will make it, but what about Danny Cronic of East Coweta (219-107-1)?
Or is it better to win four state titles in seven seasons, then retire, as Bill Corry (78-6) did in 1962 at Morgan County? The GACA requires a minimum 20 years of coaching.
Now let’s look at Sharp. He was 229-101-9 and won three state titles at two schools, an amazing record. Those East Rome teams of the 1970s were legendary.
But why isn’t Jim Hughes of Thomasville/Colquitt County in the Hall of Fame? Hughes (247-102-5) has more victories and a better winning percentage than Sharp and matched Sharp’s feat of winning three titles with two schools - except that Hughes’ three were in the highest classification.
And lastly, there’s Hunnicutt, who led LaGrange to titles in 1955 and 1958 and was 187-96-19 in an era when you could win state in just 12 games.
When you adjust for that, Hunnicutt’s career was comparable to Dale Williams at Waycross (230-122-3) and Alton Shell at Americus (208-107-2).
All three won about two-thirds of their games and a pair of state titles, but Hunnicutt is in the Hall of Fame and Shell and Williams are not.
OK, to the lists …
The 10 best candidates for the Hall of Fame (active): These are locks to make it.
- Larry Campbell, Lincoln County
- Robert Davis, Westside-Macon
- Luther Welsh, Thomson
- Alan Chadwick, Marist
- Conrad Nix, Northside-Warner Robins
- Ed Pilcher, Bainbridge
- Dwight Hochstetler, Bowdon
- Charlie Winslette, Gatewood School
- Buck Godfrey, Southwest DeKalb
- Rick Tomberlin, Valdosta
The 10 best non-locks for the Hall of Fame (active): You must coach at least 20 years in Georgia to be eligible. The first three are locks. The rest are working on their longevity.
- Rich McWhorter, Charlton County
- Cecil Flowe, Parkview
- Jeff Herron, Camden County
- Steve Pardue, LaGrange
- Randy McPherson, Lowndes
- Rayvan Teague, Carrollton
- Erik Soliday, Turner County
- Charlie Flowers, Dougherty
- Robby Pruitt, Fitzgerald
- Roger Holmes, Dublin
The 10 best candidates for the Hall of Fame (retired): The top two are locks; the bottom eight have credentials as good as some who already are in and probably will make it someday.
- T. McFerrin, South Gwinnett
- Dexter Wood, Buford
- Buck Cravey, Vidalia
- Jim Hughes, Colquitt County
- Jim Dorsey, McEachern
- Jack Johnson, Mitchell-Baker
- Dale Williams, Waycross
- John Hill, Cedartown
- Jim Cavan, R.E. Lee
- Jim Lofton, GAC
Five coaches from the GIA who should be in the Hall of Fame: Only two GIA coaches (DuPree of Laney and Arthur Mott of Tifton’s Wilson High) are in the Hall. But the two greatest black coaches of the GIA era — L.C. Baker of Washington and Odis Spencer of Spencer — are not.
- L.C. Baker, Washington
- Odis Spencer, Spencer
- Clarence Fisher, Center/Carver-Atlanta
- Stan Lomax, Risley
- T. Herman Graves, Howard
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