Three of Alabama's most successful high school football coaches have been selected to the 31st class of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Stacy Luker grew up in football tradition as a member of the 1982 Sweet Water state football champions. After graduating from the University of West Alabama, he took his first head coaching job in 1995 at Washington County, and after two years took the job as the head coach at Thomasville High School. In five seasons with the Tigers, Luker amassed a record of 30-23 with three playoff appearances.
In 2002 he was hired by Sweet Water to return his alma mater to greatness. He did just that. In twelve seasons he won 132 games with nine seasons of ten wins or more. From 2004 through 2010, the Tigers won five 1A state championships and did it in record style, outscoring their opponents 203-14 in the championship games. Luker left Sweet Water after the 2013 season and coached for a year in Mississippi before returning to coach at Demopolis for two seasons and then moving on to Clarke County. He has an overall record of 229 and 101.
Jimmy Perry took a different roue to the hall of fame. After serving as an assistant at Trinity for two seasons, he took a job as assistant at Robert E. Lee in Montgomery in 1984. Spence McCracken took over the Lee program two years later and Perry was an integral part of the staff that led the Generals to great success, winning three state championships in 1986, 1991 and 1992. When McCracken left for Opelika in 1995, Perry became the head coach at Lee.
In five seasons at Lee, he led the Generals to a record of 38-24 and a trip to the 1999 state finals. In 2000, Perry took a job with Auburn University where he would serve as high school relations coach and director of football operations for nine years. In 2004, he returned to high school coaching, first at St. Paul's in Mobile and later at St. James in Montgomery. He has led St. James to their only four 10 win seasons in the history of the school.
Danny Powell is considered one of the top football and baseball coaches in Alabama over the last three decades. A graduate of Leroy High school and the University of West Alabama, Powell coached at McIntosh Academy, Lee-Scott and Jackson Academy in the AISA before moving to Clarke County High School in 1992 as head baseball coach and football offensive coordinator. Powell joined on at his alma mater Leroy in 1995 as head baseball coach and defensive coordinator for the football team. He would become the head football coach in 2006. During that stretch Leroy also won state baseball championships in 2001, 2003 and 2008. His baseball teams won over 300 games and his football teams were 66-7 overall in six seasons. The Bears won four football state titles including 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010 in 5 years with Powell as head coach.
In 2011, Powell took the head job at Jackson High School. He revived the Jackson program immediately, and led the Aggies to a 15-0 record and Class 4A state championship. His teams won 82 games at Jackson. He closed his head-coaching career with a 177-72-1 record over 20 seasons.
These coaches and nine others will be inducted into Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame at the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center in Montgomery in March.