By Bill Plott, for the AHSAA
Richard “Dickey” Wright learned the importance of a coach’s impact from the very best.
He got his start as a student coach working with Hall of Fame coach Bob Finley at W.A. Berry High School. He spent most of his professional coaching and teaching career in the Homewood City School System working with such great mentors as Hall of Fame coaches Gerald Gann and Bob Newton.
He was a fast learner.
On March 18, Wright will be joining 11 others who will be inducted into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame as members of the Class of 2024 at the 34th annual Hall of Fame Induction Banquet to be held at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Spa Convention Center.
Those individuals selected with Wright are: football coaches Phillip Lolley, Perry Swindall and Rick Rhoades, who led Mountain Brook to a 14-0 record and a state football championship in 1976 in his only year at the school; football and track coach Eddie Brundidge; basketball coaches Chucky Miller and Thomas “Mike” Boyd; baseball and football coach Ron Nelson; softball and baseball coach Christopher Goodman; AHSAA administrator Kimberly Vickers; and selected from the “Old-Timers” Division were coach/administrators Frank “Swede” Kendall and Cornell “C.T.” Torrence.
The W. A. Berry High School 1971 graduate lettered in track and football for Finley. He attended Jacksonville State University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Wright began his teaching career at Homewood Middle School in 1981, serving as athletic director and coaching football and wrestling. His football teams compiled a record of 75-27-1 and were 1981 Jefferson County middle school champions.
In 1993 he was promoted to defensive coordinator in football and head wrestling and golf coach at Homewood High School. During his tenure as defensive coordinator, Homewood won five state championships (1995, 2000, 2002. 2004, 2005) and had one runner-up team (2001). The 2000 team (14-1) won the memorable five overtime game with Benjamin Russell. The 2005 team was 15-0, allowing opponents an average of only 8.8 points per game. In 2006, he took over as head football coach, holding that position for five years. The 2006 team advanced to the third round of the playoffs.
As wrestling coach, his teams won five Class 5A state championships, including four in a row from 2002 to ‘04.
The 1995 championship was followed by runner-up finishes in 1996 and 1997. He had 37 individual Class 5A state champions, 74 sectional champions and 106 state placers.
Wrestling USA Magazine gave him the Alabama State Man of the Year Award in 2002. The magazine said Homewood had won a repeat state championship after overcoming several obstacles: “sickness, injuries, a late start because of being in the state football finals.” Homewood rallied to defeat Gardendale, which had won the sectional title.
He coached three National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winners – Bert Newton, Seth Garvin and Forrest Milsap. He had six high school All-Americans and three high school Academic All-Americans.
Wright was named Southeastern Coach of the Year in 2001 and the National Federation of High Schools Coach of the Year for Alabama in 2005. He served on the NFHS Wrestling Rules Committee for six years. He received the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Lifetime Service Award in 2018.
“My first association with Dickey was a student in my seventh grade physical education class at W. A. Berry,” coach Gerald Gann said. “Dickey played junior high and varsity football as a wide receiver. During his college years, Dickey helped coach our junior high football, basketball and baseball teams. He was an excellent coach and teacher of fundamentals.
“All of Dickey’s successes for football and wrestling are impressive, but his biggest asset to Homewood City Schools was his dedication to his players, coaching and his teaching profession. Dickey was a coach that you would want your son or daughter to play for.”
Coach Bob Newton’s impression of Wright is similar.
“I had the pleasure of working with coach Wright at Homewood High School for years,” said Newton. “He served as a coach of distinction who made a difference in the school and in the lives of athletes in wrestling and football.
“He served as wrestling coach for many years and won multiple state championships as well as leading a number of young men to be individual state champions.
“He served as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach during my time as football coach, and he was an integral part of our ability to win five football state championships.
“Coach Wright has dedicated himself to students and spent his entire career helping young athletes develop. He coached both of my sons in wrestling and football with both earning state titles in wrestling. He helped them become adults of strength and resilience, knowing the rewards of hard work and dedication. Coach Wright has been a part of multiple championships in multiple sports and has helped others to be champions.”
When Wright gave up the football position after the 2010 season, he continued to serve the school system, coordinating school buses, helping with residence verification and assisting with general supervisions.
“He’s the type that says, ‘Where do you need me? How can I help?’” said Homewood Schools Superintendent Bill Cleveland. “It’s a principal or superintendent’s dream person.”
Wright retired from public education in 2013. He then coached at Shades Mountain Christian for two years to close out his coaching career.
Bill Plott is a veteran journalist and one of the state’s most prominent high school sports historians.
