Coach Charles Hegwood was an acclaimed championship football coach at Puckett, New Hebron, Taylorsville, and Notre Dame High in Biloxi. Coach Hegwood hails from Smith County who was a graduate of Millsaps and Southern Miss. He attended the Naval Academy and was a Navy veteran of World War II. Charles began his 34-year coaching career at Puckett high in 1939. His teams were winless and he moved to New Hebron in 1941 where his gridiron squad only managed one tie in the season. Following the war, Coach Hegwood arrived at Taylorsville where his teams only managed one win in his first three seasons. His 1949 Tartars, however, finished with a record of 10-1-2 and a state runner-up finish losing in the Class BB championship game by a score of 46-6 to Sardis. After leading Taylorsville to a record of 20-9-2 in 6 seasons, Charles then arrived at Notre Dame High in Biloxi where he would serve as head football coach and athletic director for the next 28 seasons. During his tenure, Notre Dame was the first Coast high school, and one of the first in Mississippi, to use African Americans on the sports teams. Coach Hegwood led his Notre Dame teams to three Pascagoula River Conference crowns. In addition to leading the football team, Charles was the school’s top math instructor. Overall, his football teams compiled a record of 145 wins, 117 losses, and 8 ties. Along with the MAC Coaches Hall of Fame memberships, Coach Hegwood was a charter member of the Biloxi Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. Charles passed away on July 23, 2001.