Lindy Callahan is considered to be the “Godfather of Mississippi High School Athletics.” Born in Vicksburg and raised in Meridian, Lindy was a multi-sport letterman in football, track, and boxing at Meridian High from 1945 to 1948. An All-Big Eight football star, Coach Callahan lettered three years in football and two years in baseball at Ole Miss where he received his college degree. From 1951 to 1953, he played minor league baseball in the Cotton States League and the Alabama/Florida League before entering the coaching profession. Lindy began his long association with Gulfport High in 1953 as he worked as head baseball coach and assistant football and basketball coach until 1955. From 1955 to 1965, he served the Admirals as athletic director, head football coach, and head baseball coach. He continued his duties as athletic director of the Gulfport School System from 1966 until his retirement in 1992. Coach Callahan led his powerhouse Gulfport football squads to three state championships in 1963, 1964, and 1965. Under his guidance, the then-named Commodores gridiron team won 42 consecutive Big Eight Conference games and played in the Big Eight Championship games in 1964 and 1965. For his efforts, Lindy was named Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1964. He also guided the baseball team to the South Mississippi title in 1962. Overall, Coach Callahan’s Gulfport football teams to a record of 82 wins, 24 losses, and 7 ties. In addition, Coach Callahan coached in the Bernard Blackwell Mississippi High School All-Star Football game in 1957 and 1961. Lindy is known as one of the most innovative and skilled athletic administrators in the history of Mississippi prep sports. Besides serving as President of the Mississippi Association of Coaches, the Mississippi Athletic Directors Association, and the Mississippi High School Activities Association, he originated the famed Gulf Coast Coaching Clinic in 1964 and was responsible for helping create the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Football game in 1992. Lindy received the Distinguished American Award in 1979 by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. He also received the National Interscholastic Athletic Administration Association Distinguished Service Award in 1984 and was selected as the National Athletic Director of the Year by the National High School Athletic Director Federation in 1986. He was honored with the National Federation of High Schools Citation Award in 1986. Coach Callahan has been honored with induction in seven athletic halls of fame. Lindy was inducted into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame in 1977, the National Federation of High Schools Hall of Fame in 1995, the National Council of Secondary School Athletic Directors Presidential Hall of Fame in 1996, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Hall of Fame as a charter member in 2009, the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009, and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018. In recognition of his outstanding service to high school student-athletes and the lives he has influenced throughout his years as coach and administrator at Gulfport, the Mississippi High School Activities Association in 1995 founded the Lindy Callahan Scholar-Athlete program to present college scholarships to deserving high school athletes from across the state. In 1992, Gulfport High School recognized Lindy’s accomplishments by naming the weight room at Gulfport High and the football field at Joseph Milner Stadium in his honor. In 2018, Coach Callahan was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame.