Dudley Hilton leaves Bell County

My jaw dropped yesterday when my boss, Jeff Moreland, told me that high school football coaching legend Dudley Hilton was stepping down at Bell County to be the head coach at Pikeville College.

I've never met the Springfield native but his work is well known across the state.

• 36 years of coaching (always as a head coach, never as an assistant).
• Three state championships (including an improbable one with Bourbon County in 1997).
• 345 wins in 36 seasons (tied with Newport Catholic Central's Bob Schneider except Schneider did it in 44 years).
• 34 consecutive winning seasons, starting in his second season.

That's only a few of his accolades.

He will be joining his son, John Dudley Hilton, at Pikeville College. John Dudley just completed his senior season with the Bell County Bobcats and is joining Pikeville College as a player.

I spoke with Hilton today. He's a great interview, very quoteable and funny.

Check in with us on Wednesday in the print edition for some of his quotes about his new job. He's very excited about his new endeavor.