Today’s interviewee is Dave Hunter, co-founder of the Corky Kell Classic and vice chairman of the new Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame. Hunter was Brookwood’s head football coach from 1987 to 2003 and is a member of the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Dave Hunter, Corky Kell Classic co-founder
1. It’s been 30 years since the first Corky Kell Classic, which was started by you and the late Corky Kell in 1992 and played initially as two games at the Georgia Dome. What would your friend Coach Kell think all these years later? “I think he’s looking down proud of us. We’ve added days [to four] and more teams [to 22]. TV has made a big part of it. We believe it’s the premier preseason event in the country. It’s come a long way. It’s been a progression. Before he passed away [in 1995], he asked me emphatically to keep the games going, and I feel an obligation to do that. I think he’d be happy that we have so many teams involved. We’ve got 11 games, and that’s about all we can do right now.”
2. What part of the event do you look most forward to, and why? “By far the games. You get to watch those kids and even the coaches and the support personnel be so excited. It’s a televised event. It’s always a good opponent they’re playing. It’s a great venue. Mercedes-Benz is a tough nut to crack financially, but it’s hard to justify having Mercedes-Benz in Atlanta and not playing in there. We used to feel that when we played in the Georgia Dome, that’s where they played the Super Bowl, and you can tell your grandkids that.”
3. The High School Football Hall of Fame is your newest venture. Why was it important to have a Hall of Fame? “We’ve got a coaches hall of fame and an athletic directors hall of fame, but we don’t have a high school football players hall of fame. High school football in Georgia is better than in any other state per capita for sure. I just think it was way overdue, and it looks like from the excitement that’s been generated that we’ve made the right choice. We’ve got so many players we need to honor.”
4. Each of 35 board members voted for 36 players from a 100-player ballot. How was the voting process for you, and what did you learn from it? “The first 20 weren’t too hard for me, but boy, 21 through 36 were tough. I’ve heard we might’ve missed two or three that we didn’t have on the ballot. Terry Harvey is one. He was the best athlete to come out of Dacula by far and wasn’t on the ballot, but he will be next time. The best player I ever coached was [former Chamblee linebacker] Andy Spiva, and he was on the list, but he didn’t get enough votes. But in the ‘70s, he was the best defensive player in Georgia. There were many players whose accomplishments surprised me. For example, Buck Belue, I didn’t know until I got the bios that he’d started all four years at Valdosta and took over for Georgia and played four years and was extremely successful at every level. Another was George Maloof. I didn’t realize he was the first Wigwam All-American [Wigwam was an early prominent selector of high school All-Americans], and then a little icing on the cake, he was class president all four years at Marist, which says a little something about the character of the guy.” [Harvey was an all-state quarterback in 1989 and two-sport athlete at N.C. State. Spiva played at Chamblee and then at Tennessee. Three years into an NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons, Spiva was killed in an automobile crash in 1979 at age 24. Maloof’s final high school season was 1947. He played at Georgia Tech and became a longtime high school coach who led St. Pius to a 1968 state title. Maloof was among the 36 voted in along with Belue.]
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