Jim Chaffin

James Robert Chafin was born in Albertville, Alabama, to Rupert J.B. Chafin and Mary Lou Fowler Chafin. He also had a sister, Elizabeth Chafin Jones, who is now deceased. Jim was an outstanding football player for the Aggies, playing for Coach Raymond Bates. He graduated in 1946 and went on to have an outstanding career at Jacksonville State, graduating from there in 1951. While at Jacksonville State, Jim met and married Joan Hackney of Anniston, his wife of 57 years.

Jim began his coaching career at Isabella High School in Chilton County in 1949 before finishing his degree. Following his graduation from Jacksonville State, he volunteered for military service in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. One of his duty stations was Maxwell Field in Montgomery. After the war, Jim taught one semester at J.B. Pennington High School in Blount County, and then returned to Montgomery.

In 1954, Jim went to Sidney Lanier High School as Head Baseball Coach and won the state baseball championship his first year. In the fall of 1955, he transferred to the new Robert E. Lee High School as an assistant football coach to legendary Coach Tom Jones. As an assistant to Jones for 11 years, the Generals had a record of 95-12-5 and won five state championships. When Coach Jones left to become the Freshman Coach at Auburn in 1966, Chafin became the head coach and continued the winning tradition with a six-year record of 51-13-2. Following a rare losing season in 1968, Coach Chafin went to Houston, Texas, to learn about Bill Yeoman’s version of the veer offense, which he installed that year at Lee. His 1969 and 1970 teams were undefeated and won the State 4A Championship. Jim was selected 4A Coach-of-the-Year both years, and his 1970 team was listed as one of the top 10 high school football teams of all time. From 1969-71, Jim’s teams had a 32-game winning streak and coached the 1970 South All-Star football team. He also won the State Wrestling Championship.

Following the 1971-72 season, Jim gave up his coaching duties to become the Montgomery County Board of Education’s first Supervisor of Physical Education and Athletics. In 1980, he retired from public education to become the Athletic Director for the new Trinity Presbyterian School in Montgomery.

During his career, Jim has served as Vice-President and President of the Alabama High School Coaches and Athletic Directors Association, Physical Education consultant for the Alabama State Department of Education, and has been active in state and national organizations for health and physical education and coaches.

James Robert Chafin was inducted into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, the second year of its existence; the Montgomery Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, which includes such outstanding athletes as Joe Sewell of the New York Yankees and Bart Starr of the Green Bay Packers and the Robert E. Lee High School Hall of Fame in 1995. Jim was also selected as a Jacksonville State University Distinguished Award Honoree in 1995 and was given the AHSAA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.

Jim and Joan currently reside in Wetumpka and have two children, Cindy Dykes and James Chafin, Jr., three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.