Joe Gaddis inducted into Tennessee Football Coaches Hall of Fame

 

Oak Ridge football coach Joe Gaddis was inducted into the Tennessee Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Saturday.

It was the association’s fifth Hall of Fame class, and it includes a total of seven members. Besides Gaddis, the other six Hall of Fame football members in this year’s class were Bobby Alston, Jim Heinz, Hershel Moore, Bob Polston, and Dave Rider.

The seventh member recognized by the Tennessee Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame was the contributor of the year. This year’s inductee was former Chattanooga Times Free Press sports writer and Chattanooga area television personality Stump Martin.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place on Saturday, December 1, at the Life Church in Cookeville.

“Once again, we are excited to introduce a new class of highly deserving coaches and contributors into our TnFCA Hall of Fame,” TnFCA President Thomas McDaniel said. “As an association, we welcome the opportunity to acknowledge worthy men whom have given so much to this wonderful game. This class represent the very best across our state form east to west and across multiple generations.”

Included below is a closer look at the accomplishments of the inductees, starting with Gaddis:

Joe Gaddis

• Just finished his sixth season back at Oak Ridge and his 44th year of coaching high school football.
• Overall coaching record is 304-125, which includes a 266-84 record in Tennessee. Has also been a head coach in Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina.
• Won the Class AAA state title at Oak Ridge in 1991.
• Head coach at Tullahoma (1983-87), Oak Ridge (1988-1998), Pascagoula (Mississippi) (1999-2000), Austin (Alabama) (2001-03), Henry County (2004-09), Lexington (North Carolina) (2010-11), Peabody (2012), and Oak Ridge (2013-current).
• Teams have made 26 playoff appearances under Gaddis’ guidance.

Bobby Alston

• Just finished his 21st year as the head football coach at MUS (Memphis University School) after taking over the program in 1998.
• Overall record at MUS in his 20 years is 159-73.
• The Owls have won four state titles in six title game appearances under Alston.
• MUS won back-to-back Division II-AAA state titles in 2004 and 2005, as well as back-to-back state titles in Division II-AA in 2008 and 2009. The Owls were runners up in 2012 and 2013.
• MUS have made 18 consecutive playoff appearances under Alston from 2000-2017.

Jim Heinz

• Currently the defensive coordinator at Briarcrest, but led ECS (Evangelical Christian School) to prominence in 31 years at the school.
• Overall coaching record at ECS was 218-88 in 31 seasons (1978-2009).
• The Eagles won four state titles in three different classifications under Heinz (Class A in 1983, Division II-A in 1999 and 2000, and Division II-AA in 2005) and were runner up three times as well (1984, 2004, and 2006).
• ECS made the playoffs 23 times in his tenure at the Cordova school.

Stump Martin

• Covered high school sports in the Chattanooga and North Georgia area for more than 30 years via newspaper, TV, magazine, and online.
• Covered high school sports for two decades at the Chattanooga Times Free Press and then started his own brand “Stump on Sports,” which is a local TV show and website in the Chattanooga and North Georgia area.
• Was the organizer for the Tennessee-Georgia all star football game, which continues today and was started in 2004.
• Was editor-in-chief for “Tennessee Football Magazine” for three years and served as the parks and recreation director for both the Rossville (Georgia) and East Ridge communities.

Herschel Moore

• Coached more than six decades in both high school and college and is considered the father of the Wing T offense, introducing the jet sweep to the country while the head coach at Cumberland University.
• Wrote numerous books on the wing T and has been a regular on the coaching clinic circuit for decades.
• Head coach at metro Nashville schools Glencliff (1959-62, 1970-79), Stratford (1963-69), Beech (1985-1990), and Cumberland University (1993-2003).
• Posted a 60-51 record at Cumberland, making the NAIA playoffs in the only time in school history in 1993 as the Phoenix led the nation in rushing four times during his tenure.
• Moore was inducted as a member of the Cumberland Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Metro Nashville Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Bob Polston

• Was head football and baseball coach for 21 years (1958-79) across Knoxville and later served as the athletic director for the Knox County School System for 27 years (1978-2004).
• Polston’s overall coaching record in football was 156-44-4 and in baseball was 173-42.
• Head coach at Knoxville East (1958-67), Austin East (1967-70), and Knoxville Rule (1970-79). His teams won 13 district titles, and Rule made the playoffs three times in 1973, 1974, and 1976,
• Polston has been inducted in the TSSAA Hall of Fame, the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame, and the East Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Dave Rider

• Coached high school football for 42 years and was the head coach at Elizabethton for 24 years in two different stints (1976-88, 1990-99).
• Overall coaching record is 246-111, including a 173-79 record at Elizabethton.
• Started head coaching career at John Battle (Virginia) (1965) and Tazewell (Virginia) (1966-1975) before his success at Elizabethton (1976-88, 1990-99).
• Elizabethton made the playoffs 11 times under Rider, with two bowl games as well and won 10 district titles.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. This is a free story. Thank you to our advertisers, contributors, and subscribers. You can see what we cover here.

---

Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Copyright 2018 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.