Metro coaches honor 'City Paper' sportswriter

Huggins

The City Paper's Harold Huggins was inducted into the Metro Nashville Football Coaches Association's Hall of Fame for his contributions to prep athletics on Thursday night.

Huggins, who has covered prep sports in Nashville for decades, was singled out by the association at the group's 2009 banquet Thursday night for his contributions as a writer and advocate of high school sports, according to Dale Harned, who heads the MNFCA.

“Everybody knows Harold and admires his work,” Harned said just minutes before the awards ceremony. “He definitely deserves this.”

At Thursday's banquet at The Club at Gaylord Springs golf links, Huggins was presented with a football mounted on a marble plaque.

The veteran sportswriter, who's affectionately known around Nashville as “the dean of high school sports,” shared the bill last night with other honorees, including administrator Wayne Parker and McGavock assistant coach Bill Randolph.

Members of the hall are elected by vote of the 13 Metro Schools' football coaches.

The hall includes nearly 80 members, including Titans owner Bud Adams and legendary coach Jim 'Boots' Donnelly, along with sportswriters Edgar Allen and Tom Squires.

The coaches association also used the 25th annual banquet to honor Maplewood High tackle James Stone as the 2009 Most Valuable Player. The award was sponsored by Coca-Cola.

Stone was recently named winner of the prestigious Hume Award, given to the area's top football players who best exemplifies the combination of sportsmanship, scholarship and athletic ability.