Dr. Norman Rice

Cyrus Norman Rice was born on May 19, 1939, to Cyrus and Doris Rice of Arab. Both Norman and his brother Ben attended Arab High School. His grandfather, Russell Rice, was Arab’s postmaster for many years and founded the Arab Telephone Company in the 1920s.

At Arab High School, Norman was a three-year letterman in baseball. Known then as “Lefty,” he played baseball for Hall of Fame coach Earl Webb in 1954, 1956 and 1957. There was not a team in 1955. As a senior, Norman pitched a no-hitter against Douglas and pitched in every game, once pitching a stretch of 20 innings, allowing only two runs. The 1957 team finished as Co-Marshall County Champs and went to the District 8 finals. Norman was selected as the team MVP. He also assisted HOF member Ralph Reed in Arab’s first Little League and Pony League programs.

Following his senior year, Norman signed to play baseball at Snead College for Marshall County Hall of Fame Coach Emmett Plunkett. He played in every inning as a pitcher or outfielder during his freshman year for the Parsons. His teammates included HOF member John Allen. As a sophomore, Rice had a 6-3 record and led the Parsons to a runner-up finish in the Dixie Conference. Following his career at Snead, Coach Virgil Ledbetter at Howard College, now Samford University, offered Norman a chance to play. He lettered both years and as a senior posted a 4-0 record with a 1.75 ERA. From the age of 15 until he was 22, Rice also played independent baseball, pitching a no-hitter for the Guntersville Redbirds in 1957. In 1960, he played for the Birmingham Amateur Baseball Federation at Sipsey, which won the Bankhead Division Championship. Norman was best known for his deceptive pick-off move to first base.

Following graduation with a BS in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from Howard College in 1961, Norman married his college sweetheart, Julia Alice Granade of Greenville. The couple moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where Norman was a Graduate Assistant in Physical Education for the Knox County Board of Education while earning a Master’s Degree from the University of Tennessee. He returned to Alabama as the head baseball and assistant football coach at T.R. Miller High School in Brewton from 1962-1964. His teams had winning seasons both years and Rice coached several athletes who went on to play college sports, including standouts Mike Sasser of Alabama and Bucky Phillipi of Auburn. In 1964, Norman was selected to coach the East-West All-Star baseball game in Montgomery.

In 1965, Coach Rice was hired as the head basketball, head baseball, and assistant football coach at Childersburg High School in Talladega County. He turned around losing programs as his first baseball team went 10-4 and his 1965-66 basketball team had a school best record of 23-5. Rice coached two players who signed pro baseball contracts, Johnny Simmons, the Number 1 draft pick of the Kansas City Royals out of high school, and Johnny Williamson. who signed with the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1966, Norman turned in his whistle to become a consultant for the Talladega County Schools. He worked from 1970-1974 with the State Department of Education as Drug Education Specialist and from 1974-1978 as Assistant Professor and Chairman of the Faculty Athletic Committee at Samford University. It was here that Rice earned a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Alabama. He then worked as a Central Office Director for the Jefferson County Schools until his retirement in 1995. This outstanding athlete, coach and administrator has positively influenced the lives of countless numbers of youth in our state. Dr. and Mrs. Rice live in Birmingham near their children, Jim and Catherine Rice and Geoff and Kathy Rice, and their four grandchildren, Daniel and Mary Stewart Powers and Jack and Emily Rice.