Jerry Elmore

Jerry Elmore was a great athlete during his playing days at Athens High School. After playing for his father, Ferman Elmore at Athens, Jerry went to Vanderbilt University on a football scholarship. A knee injury ended what was a promising career for Elmore, but his football days were far from over. Elmore was influenced by his Hall of Fame father and turned to coaching. He became a graduate assistant coach while earning his Masters degree in 1971 from the University of North Alabama. Elmore made the move to high school coaching when he became an assistant coach at Austin and Cullman high schools. In 1979, Elmore became the head coach of Cullman High School where he took the Bearcats to the state playoffs in his first season. Coach Elmore then moved to Oneonta for one year and an 8-3 record with the Redskins. He then accepted the head football coaching job at Class 5A Fort Payne where he soon became a legend after leading the school to its first playoff game in 1984. Elmore coached at the school until 1998 and left as the winningest coach in Fort Payne history. Elmore won five area championships and led Fort Payne to its first 10 win season during his tenure. His overall coaching record is 122-88-1 in 20 seasons as a head coach at three schools. Coach Jerry Elmores son, Chris, is well on his way to following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps having served as the offensive coordinator at Hueytown High School and in 2013 was named the head football coach at Chelsea. Elmore was inducted into the Limestone County Sports Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the DeKalb County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.