Coach Jerry Long has been an outstanding championship baseball and softball coach for over 40 years at Iuka, Tishomingo County, and Cherokee.  Born in Corinth, Jerry was a three-sport letterman in football, baseball, and basketball at Iuka High.  He excelled at baseball where he was the team MVP and helped the Braves win state titles in 1973 & 1974.  Jerry played in the first ever Crossroads All-Star baseball game in 1975.  He was an All-State and team MVP JUCO player at Northeast Mississippi Community College in 1977 then completed his higher education at North Alabama where he was a two-year starter and was second in home runs in the Gulf South Conference in 1980.  Jerry’s distinguished 43-year career started back at Iuka where he was an assistant football and baseball coach.  He was then named as head baseball coach in 1985 and would spend the next 29 years at Iuka/Tishomingo County High.   He coached slow and fast pitch softball for a combined 36 years at Tishomingo County and Cherokee High.  Remarkably, Jerry has only had one losing season in 30 years on the baseball diamond.  Coach Long’s baseball and softball squads averaged 35 wins, 52 games played, and only 16 losses a year.  His Iuka baseball teams played in 1,023 games with 688 wins, 332 losses, and 3 ties for a 67% winning mark.  His slow pitch teams have played 802 games with 553 wins, 247 losses, and 2 ties for a 69% mark and his fast pitch squads have played 260 games with 174 wins, 84 losses, and 2 ties for a winning mark of 65%.  His Iuka baseball team won the 1989 state championship and his 1990 team held a national high school scoring record by plating 505 runs in one season.  Jerry is 7th in the state all-time in games coached with 2,076; 6th in the state all-time in most wins with 1,408; 9th in the state for most wins in baseball with 688; and 6th in the state for most wins in softball with 720.  Combined, his baseball and softball teams have played 2,085 games with 1,415 wins, 663 losses, and 7 ties with 43 playoff appearances—19 for baseball, 19 for slow pitch softball, and 5 for fast pitch softball.  Coach Long has been named coach of the year an incredible 29 times—13 for baseball, 12 for slow pitch softball, and 4 for fast pitch softball.  He has received Coach of the Year honors from the Jackson Clarion Ledger (1989); the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (1989), the Northeast Mississippi Association for Better Baseball (1991); the Florence Times (North Alabama Coach of the Year 2017); and the Northeast Mississippi Association of Coaches (2016). Jerry has been an All-Star coach for the Crossroads Diamond Club (1991); the State All-Star Games (1996 & 2003), the Northeast Mississippi Association for Better Baseball (1993 to 2004); and the Northeast Mississippi Coaches Association for Better Softball (2006).  Coach Long is one of a few Mississippi coaches to win over 1,000 games.  His slow pitch team won an extra-inning victory over Amory on September 22, 2011, for his 1,000th win and his Tishomingo County fast pitch squad defeated Waterloo, Alabama, on March 16, 2024, for his 1,400th win.  Jerry has had 49 former players or assistant coaches who are now coaching and 60 of his players have received college scholarships.  Off the field, Jerry has spent his summers umpiring fast pitch softball travel tournaments and officiating basketball games.  He is deeply involved in his profession with MAC membership since 1987, a term as vice president and membership since 1991 in the Northeast Mississippi Coaches Association for Better Baseball, membership in the Crossroads Diamond Club since 1987, and membership in the Northeast Mississippi Coaches Association for Better Softball since 2000.  He has served as a feature speaker and worked at area high school and college baseball camps at Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Delta State, Itawamba Community College, and North Alabama.  In addition to MAC Hall of Fame honors, Jerry has already been inducted into three athletic halls of fame:  the Crossroads Diamond Club Hall of Fame in 2003; the Northeast Mississippi Coaches Association for Better Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013; and the Northeast Mississippi Community College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.