Hugh "Shorty" Ogle

William Ogle, in 1923, told his son Hugh if he could pick a certain amount of cotton every day and still play football it was okay. He met his dad’s quota. Cotton picking would not prevent this determined youngster from wearing the red and black of the Albertville Aggies. He was 6 feet, 4 inches tall, so they called him “Shorty.”

Albertville attorney T.J. Carnes in his book “Out of the Sand” described Ogle as “probably the best coach this state has ever seen.” (And, yes, this author knows about Bear Bryant.) “Shorty” Ogle’s Decatur Red Raiders of 1941 may have been the first high school team to use the modern day T-formation and one of the first three teams in the United States to use it, along with Stanford and the Chicago Bears.

Ogle was an outstanding scholar with strong muscles on a lanky frame. He was a starter in all sports for the Aggies before attending Birmingham-Southern on scholarship and playing football for Coach “Red” Drew. Ogle made All-Southern end, also lettering in basketball, baseball and track. Birmingham-Southern awarded him the Porter Cup for being the Best Athlete.

Sand Mountain’s farm boy was once referred to as the “one-man track team.” He left Birmingham-Southern in 1929 to take a coaching job at Hanceville. The Decatur Red Raiders came calling four years later and lured him away with $100 a month salary. The rest is history. Ogle coached four undefeated state championship teams, including his first squad. Other highlights include a 33-game winning streak and a career coaching record including records of 253-73-9 in football, 232-42 in basketball, 128-29 in baseball and 147-31 in track. The roster of stars he coached is led by Admiral Don Whitemire, an Alabama All-American and National Football Hall of Famer, along with Auburn all-star quarterback and coach Bobby Freeman.

“Shorty” Ogle has been called the Father of the Alabama All-Star Game. He was the winning coach in the 1948 inaugural Alabama High School All-Star football game in which the North team won 33-0 over the South.

Ogle, in 1979, became the first high school coach to be inducted in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, followed in 1991 by his induction in the charter class of the Alabama High School Hall of Fame. The people of Morgan County honored him with induction into their Hall of Fame, and Decatur named the site of all future high school football games Ogle Stadium at Decatur High School.