Coach Thomas Reed Peirce was an famed championship track and football coach at Aberdeen High. Thomas was born in 1934 in Amory and lettered in football, basketball, and track at Amory High. He served in the U.S. Air Force upon graduation and played service football from 1962 to 1967. He lettered in 2 years at Itawamba Junior College from 1958-59 and graduated from Mississippi State in 1960. Pierce’s 28-year coaching career began in 1960 at Aberdeen where he was hired as head football and track coach. He would eventually serve as athletic director and principal for the Bulldogs. His 1975, 1976, and 1977 football teams won 3 straight Little 10 Conference titles with the 1977 team finishing with an undefeated record. His gridiron teams compiled a record of 69-52-5. He organized and built the Aberdeen track & field program into a state powerhouse. Coach Pierce created the state’s largest track meet from 1965 to 1982 which hosted as many as 142 track teams. He hosted 3 North Mississippi B-BB track meets and created the Monroe County track meet that lasted from 1967 through 1982. He supervised the construction of the Reddog Track at Aberdeen. Coach Pierce began the girls 440 and 880 yard relays in Mississippi to equalize competition between boys & girls track squads. Thomas organized the Thunderbird relays at the Columbus Air Force Base. He provided practice facilities and equipment for 16 other schools that did not have similar equipment or places to practice. He guided the Aberdeen boys or girls track squads to 6 Little 10 Conference crowns, 2 North Little Ten titles, 7 Monroe County titles, and 1st or 2nd place finishes in 8 Bulldog relays. His 1972 team was North Little Ten champs, district champs, and finished 3rd in the state. His 1977 boys squad was one of the best as they finished as North Little Ten champions, 1st place in the Bulldog & Tupelo Daily Journal relays, and 2nd in the state. His boys & girls track teams finished in 1st place in 27 championship track meets between 1968 and 1981, establishing Aberdeen as one of the premier track programs in Mississippi and in the South. He was named football Coach of the Year for the 1976-77 and 1977-78 undefeated seasons by the Jackson Touchdown Club and the North All Conference. He served as assistant All-Star coach in the 1978 Bernard Blackwell All-Star Classic and organized the first in-state football jamboree in state history the same year. Between 1980 and 1986, Coach Pierce was district 1 MHSAA representative. He was a longtime member of the MAC who served as president of the Little 10 Coaches Association and he also officiated basketball games for 8 years. Coach Pierce moved to Austin High in Decatur, Alabama, in 1990. He has a long track record of community service including the Rotary Club, American Legion, and First Baptist Church in Aberdeen.