The Alabama Football Coaches Association is proud to announce the winners of their Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2024. Theses awards are given annually to coaches who have showed exemplary achievement as a football coach in the state of Alabama over the course of their career. In addition to coaching success, consideration is given to the nominees off the field works, leadership in the local community and on a state level as well. The winners are nominated by members of the association, selected by a committee, and approved by the ALFCA Board of Directors.
These three men will be honored at the ALFCA Coach of the Year Banquet at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Montgomery. The luncheon will be held on Saturday, January 25th.
Congratulations to these three outstanding coaches.
Coach Bill Clark is pictured at a UAB press conference.
1) Bill Clark - Before having success on the collegiate level as head coach at Jacksonville State and UAB, Coach Clark was an outstanding high school head coach in the state. He rebuilt the struggling Prattville football program from 1999-2007. The Lions won 55 straight region games, went and won the 2006 and 2007 state championships. His overall record at Prattville was 160-11. He then went to South Alabama as defensive coordinator before taking over the head job at Jax State where in one season he led the Gamecocks to an 11 win season. His UAB tenure was highlighted by two Conference USA Championships and three consecutive bowl appearances.
Larry Henderson (bottom row 2nd from left), with his 1983 Murphy coaching staff.
2) Larry Henderson - A graduate of Mississippi State University, Coach Henderson had a highly successful tenure at Murphy High School in Mobile as head coach from 1982-1992. His Panther teams won 83 games, had three state title game appearances, and won the 1983 State Championship with a 14-0 record. He left coaching after the 1992 season to go into administration. Coach Henderson also served on the AHSAA Coaches Hall of Fame Committee and was director of the Mobile Coaches Clinic for 12 years.
Coach Patterson with his two sons, Wes and Matt, from his coaching days.
3) Larry Patterson - An All State back at Cleveland High School in 1961, Patterson became head coach at Susan Moore at age 20 and spent 22 seasons there compiling a record of 164-78-3. He led the school to their first playoff appearance in 1969 and to the state finals in 1970. Coach Patterson also served as head coach at Arab from 1989 -1994, taking over a team that had not had a winning season in 8 years and going 7-3 his first season. He would lead Arab to five winning seasons in six years. He served as president of the AHSAA Coaches Association and is a member of the Marshall County and Blount County Coaches Hall of Fames.