John Swofford has been one of the NCHSAA’s biggest proponents during his career as an athletic administrator. A native of North Wilkesboro, Swofford was a standout athlete at Wilkes Central and played in both the East-West and Shrine Bowl football games. He attended UNC on a prestigious Morehead Scholarship and played football for the Tar…
Wally Shelton was one of the state’s most successful coaches during a career in education that ran from 1931 to 1974. A graduate of Mount Airy High and a lifelong resident of Mount Airy, Shelton returned to his high school alma mater after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill and compiled a brilliant coaching record. His teams…
Walter Rogers touched a variety of bases during his career in education that spanned over forty years and included serving in positions from teacher and coach to superintendent of schools. A graduate of Bethel Hill High School, Rogers went on to graduate from East Carolina in 1941. Rogers began coaching at Hoke County and then…
A native of Roanoke Rapids, Tom Northington was one of the top writers covering high school athletics during a 39-year career in journalism. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Northington was the sports editor of the Sanford Herald for one year and then spent the rest of his career at the Greensboro News,…
Jack Groce was a great athlete at Wilkesboro High who became an all-American football player at Appalachian State before his graduation from there in 1953. His career as a head football coach at Appalachian High and then at Watauga spanned over 20 years and he never had a losing season. His overall record was a…
The late Charles England spent almost 40 years in education, amassing an outstanding record as a football coach. Born in Newton, he was captain of the baseball team and an excellent pitcher in college at Shaw University. He went on to become head football coach at Pattillo High School in Tarboro from 1949 through ’58…
Born in Calhoun, Georgia, Hilda Worthington was an outstanding coach and administrator at Farmville Central High School from the early 1970’s to the late ‘90’s. A graduate of Broughton High School in Raleigh and a 1960 graduate of East Carolina University, Worthington served as athletic director at Farmville Central in Pitt County for close to…
A native of Shelby, Don Patrick has built a tremendous record as a coach and athletic administrator, primarily at Newton-Conover High School. A 1968 graduate of Appalachian State University, where he played baseball and served as president of the student body, Patrick was an assistant football and head baseball coach at Wilkes Central and also…
A 1964 graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College, where he played on an NAIA national championship football team, Marion Kirby has established himself as one of North Carolina’s top coaches. An all-state player in his hometown of Hickory, Kirby went on to graduate from L-R in 1964 after lettering four years in football. After a year as…
Bob Paroli is currently the winningest active head football coach in North Carolina in over 40 years of coaching. His coaching stops have included Benson (1958-64), Jacksonville (1964-65), New York Military Academy (1965-71), Wilson Fike (1971-76), Burlington Cummings (1976-80) and Fayetteville Douglas Byrd since 1980. He has compiled a brilliant record of 288-143-11 during that…
