Coach Mac Barnes was a famed state championship football coach and athletic director at Meridian. He is a native of Meridian who attended Meridian High and Mississippi College. Coach Barnes was an All-Big Eight football and basketball player at Meridian and selected to play in the All-Star football and basketball games. Mac was a National Honor Society student who received the 1980 Jackson Touchdown Club Scholar Athlete Award. He is a 28-year veteran who coached at Northwest Junior High, Meridian High, and Lamar School. He led his gridiron teams into 292 games with a record of 200-91-1. Coach Barnes guided the Meridian Wildcats to 12 District championships, 2 Big Eight state titles in 1978 & 1979 and the Class 5A state crowns in 1985 & 1990. His 1978, 1979, 1985, and 1990 state championship teams were all named the number one team in the state. He paced Lamar to division titles in 2002 & 2003 and the 2003 Class 3A MPSA state championship. He also coached state championship golf teams at Meridian and Lamar (2003, 2005, & 2006). Mac coached numerous players who would play college and pro football. He was honored as Coach of the Year on several occasions by the Jackson Clarion Ledger, the Meridian Star, and the MAC and served as All-Star coach in the Bernard Blackwell All-Star Classic in 1980 & 1986 and coached in the MS/AL All-Star game in 1990 He is a longtime MAC member who served a term as MHSAA President.