P.A. Noble, Coach Pick to almost everyone who knew him, led Tupelo to an undisputed Big Eight Conference Championship in 1945, the first in history for a team from North Mississippi. A native of Learned, in Hinds County, Noble was a standout football and baseball player for Mississippi A & M College (now Mississippi State University). His first coaching position, for all sports, was at Houston High School. While at Houston, Noble was one of the founding members of the Little Ten Conference and served as the conference’s second president. His long association with the Big Eight Conference began in 1936 as backfield coach at Greenville High School. Named head coach in 1942, his hornet team in 1943 tied Meridian for the conference championship and finished with an 11-0 record. He took the reins of Golden Wave football, as well as track, baseball, basketball, and physical education classes, in 1944. His 1944 team posted a 4-7 record, doubling the number of victories recorded in 1943, but failed to win a Big Eight game. Noble’s second year, however, produced an 11-0 record and the first Big Eight champion from North Mississippi. The Golden Wave that year had the only perfect record in Mississippi high school football. Noble’s 1949 team had an 8-3 record, closing the season with a 21-20 loss to the largest high school in the United States, Little Rock Central. His last two years as head football coach, THS teams had a 7-2-1 and 8-1-1 records. Noble was then named athletic director at THS. He held that position until 1958, when he was appointed purchasing agent and director of maintenance and transportation for the Tupelo Public Schools. He retired in 1966, following a serious heart attack in early 1965. Noble was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Tupelo and had served as a deacon. He was a member of the M Club at Mississippi State and was a long time member of the MAC. The football stadium at Tupelo was named Noble Stadium in honor of Coach Noble. Coach Pick passed away on February 7, 1978.