Coach James Wright was a legendary championship football coach at Drew, Saltillo, Starkville, and South Panola. Coach Wright was born in Winona and graduated from Winona High in 1964. He attended college at Delta State where he earned his degree in 1968. He started his 26-year coaching career at Shelby High where he was an assistant football coach and head baseball coach while coaching all junior high sport. In 1969, he was assistant football coach, head track coach, head coach of the junior high basketball team, and led the Drew 9th grade girls hoops team to the Delta Valley Conference title. He was named as head football and baseball coach at Drew in 1970 and his first two teams finished 6-13-1. He worked as head football coach at Carroll Academy in Carrolton in 1972 where his team compiled a 6-3 mark, his first winning season. His coaching pattern upon arrival at a school was rebuilding in the first season, then claiming championships nearly every year that followed. He led Saltillo for 8 seasons with 7 wins or more every season except for the first campaign which tallied 4-5-1. He guided the Tigers to 3 bowl games and 4 consecutive Tombigbee Conference Championships. His last 4 Saltillo teams were a combined 39-2-1 with an 11-0 mark in 1978 and a 9-0-1 ledger in 1980. His Saltillo teams overall were 66-18-1. He took over the Starkville Yellowjackets in 1981 and led his teams to 4 district titles, 4 North State crowns, and state championships. His 1981, 1983, and 1985 Starkville teams were rated no. 2 in the state and his 1984 squad was his finest with a record of 11-1-1 and the state crown. His Starkville teams were 51-10-2 overall. He coached in Greenville, Alabama, from 1986 to 1989 and guided his team to the 1987 class 5A state title with a mark of 13-2. His Greenville teams were 28-8. He coached at Nettleton in 1989 and 1990 where he guided the Tigers to a 10-2 mark in 1989 and a 9-2 slate in 1990. He led the Tigers into the state championship Class 2A playoffs in his short stint. He arrived at South Panola in 1991 and is considered the coach who established a high school football championship legacy in Batesville. After his first year of 5-5, his next two Tiger teams developed into national powerhouses. His 1992 team finished 10-2 with district and conference titles and a playoff appearance. Wright’s 1993 South Panola team finished 15-0 with the district, North State, and Class 5A state championships, and the ranking as the no. 1 high school team in the state. He retired from coaching in 1993 while serving as assistant principal and athletic director and then retired from teaching in 1996. He led Starkville to the school’s first state title, guided Nettleton to the school’s first ever playoff berth, led Greenville, AL, to its first state title, and coached South Panola to the team’s first state playoff and first state championship. Overall, Wright’s football teams had a record of 205-63-5. He was selected as Coach of the Year in 11 different seasons and in 3 different conferences. He has coached All-Star teams on 4 different occasions and coached in 6 state championship games with 5 of those teams with undefeated regular season marks. Coach Wright was named as statewide Coach of the Year on 3 separate occasions by the Jackson Daily News in 1984, the Birmingham Touchdown Club in 1987, and the Mississippi Sportswriters Association in 1993. He received 7 state senate resolutions and 1 Alabama Governor’s resolution for outstanding team performances. He was a longtime MAC member and frequent clinic speaker who was one of two prep coaches in the U.S. to speak to Southern California coaches’ convention. He received keys to the city in Starkville and Greenville, Alabama. He was also an active member of the Special Olympics programs.