Johnny Wright

Johnny Wright was a gifted athlete in basketball, football and baseball at Sheffield High School. In basketball, he was a three-year starter and was selected All-County as well as All-Quad Cities, for two years. He was a two-year starter on the football team and was named All-State as a wide receiver his senior year. He graduated from Sheffield in 1973. Wright started for three season as a baseball player, playing center field, third base, catcher and pitcher. Wright pitched two no hitters, played in the East-West All-Star game and was chosen All-State by the Birmingham News. After high school Wright signed to play football for Florence State, but left after one year to play baseball at Calhoun Junior College. He was selected to the All-State and All-District teams both years. Following two years of baseball at Calhoun, he signed to play for the University of Alabama where he led the SEC in homeruns. As a junior, he batted .366 and was All-SEC. During his senior year season he batted .366 and was on the All-SEC West Team. Wright accepted the head coaching position at Sheffield High School in 1987. He remained with the school for 13 seasons through 1999. Nine of his teams made the playoffs and won five region titles. In 2001, he was introduced as the new head coach at Dora. He spent six seasons at the school with a record of 55-16, five playoff berths and three region titles. Wright would leave for Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa following the 2006 season. Coach Wright spent only three years at Hillcrest but each of those teams made a trip to the postseason. His record with the Patriots was 20-13. In 2011 he took over the head coaching duties at Leroy, following the success of Danny Powell. His first and only team at Leroy made it to the third round of the playoffs and finished 8-5 winning the region title. In 2012, Wright returned to Dora as the head football coach going 12-2 and winning a region championship. He was named Coach of the Year by the ASWA in 2003 at Dora. Following the 2014 season, Wright retired from the sidelines with an overall record of 191-124-0 in 28 seasons.