Coach Billy Brown was a versatile championship coach in all sports at Shuqualak, Okolona, Nanih Waiya, DeKalb, West Kemper, Kemper County, and Kemper Academy. A native of DeKalb, Coach Brown lettered in all sports at DeKalb High and was named Most Popular. He played football for the legendary “Bull” Sullivan at East Mississippi Junior College where he was elected Most Handsome. He played football at Livingston State College where he received his college degree. He then served in the U.S. Army while playing service football and graduated from Mississippi State with additional degrees. Coach Brown began his 35-year coaching career at Shuqualak in 1959 where he coached all sports for boys and girls. His first football team, which had 10 seniors depart the previous season, finished 3-6-1, but his squad improved to 8-2 in the Big Black Conference in his second year. He moved on to Okolona where he coached football for one year and then arrived at Nanih Waiya where he again coached all sports for five years. When he started at Nanih Waiya, the school had only won three sports titles, but when he departed for his alma mater at DeKalb, his teams had won 67 championships and had winning seasons in all sports. Billy served as athletic director, football coach, track coach, and junior high girls basketball coach at DeKalb for 25 seasons. In his first year, he led the football team to their first winning season in 5 years. As the school changed names from DeKalb to West Kemper to Kemper County, Coach Brown guided his football teams to district championships in 9 of 12 years. He briefly retired for three seasons, but returned to coach Kemper Academy’s football squad for two years. Overall, Billy’s football teams achieved a record of 151 wins, 126 losses, and 10 ties. Coach Brown as a longtime MAC member who coached in the 1977 Bernard Blackwell All-Star Football Classic. He served on the MHSAA football committees when the football playoff system began. In addition to induction into the MAC Coaches Hall of Fame, Billy was selected to the East Mississippi Community College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002. Coach Brown had a sign in his football fieldhouse that had the following inscription: “My Lord, My Parents, My School, My Team, and Then Me.” Coach Brown passed away on August 18, 2022.