Don Cox heads sports HOF class

By Staff
Jason Cannon
One city school official is kicking his new year off with a bang.
Don Cox, who has been a football coach or administrator for 37 years – including 14 seasons as head coach at Russellville High School – was named yesterday to the 18th class of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Cox compiled a 184-69-4 overall record, including stints at Gordo (8-2-0), Brilliant (19-8-3) and Dora (35-15-1).
His teams at Russellville finished second in Class 5A twice (1987 and 1992) and had a regular-season winning streak of 32 games at one stretch. He also served as assistant principal and principal at Russellville and is currently an administrative assistant for the Russellville City Board of Education.
A member of the AHSAA District 7 Board for 12 years, he has served on the AHSAA Central Board of Control since 1995, including a term as president. He coached in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic in 1992 and was inducted into the Marion County Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. He is a graduate of Hamilton High School and the University of Alabama.
The 17-member Hall of Fame Committee made the selections from the 53 nominations to the Hall of Fame, which is located at the State Office of the Alabama High School Athletic Association in Montgomery.
The 2008 class will be inducted at a March 17 banquet at the Renaissance Hotel at the Convention Center in Montgomery. Other inductees include Alan Baker, Michael Cheatham, Greg Echols, James Findley, Rickey Johnson, Bob Pannone, Tammy Richardson and Dale Welsh. Cheatham and Findley are deceased.