He was a coach, mentor and advocate of high school sports. And he's a hall-of-famer. Again.

Bernard Blackwell is a name well known in Coast sports circles.

The longtime coach — who was born in Saucier and coached allover the state on the high school and college level — was a founding member of Mississippi Association of Coaches and was chairman of the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.

Last month, that coaches group made “Coach Blackie” a member of its Class of 2018 for the Hall of Fame in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. His sons, Doug and Bernie, accepted the induction for their father.

Blackwell was nominated for the honor by the MAC. He was selected, the national association said, based on his longevity, service to high school athletics, honors and other specific criteria.

He was a charter member of the NHSACA and was a member of the Board of Directors from 1980-86.

An athlete himself, Blackwell was a member of the 1947 SEC Championship team at Ole Miss. At 21, he became the youngest head football coach in the nation when he was hired at Northwest Junior College in Senatobia.

He went on to coach on the high school level at West Tallahatchie, Greenville and Pascagoula before moving back into the college ranks, taking an assistant coaching job at Mississippi College. While moving on professionally, Blackwell maintained his standing in MAC as executive director,increasing membership from 300 in 1963 to more than 2,000.

Under Blackwell’s leadership, the MAC established a Coaches Hall of Fame in 1973. Blackwell and the MAC supported efforts to have Mississippi adopt the “no pass—no play” rule for academics and athletic eligibility. The MAC assumed sponsorship of the Mississippi All Star football, basketball, softball and soccer games.

Coach Blackwell was the Mississippi Chairman to create the Mississippi/Alabama Shrine High School All Star Football Game. He negotiated the contract for the Mississippi/Alabama High School Basketball game to be played on an alternating home basis.

Blackwell made a permanent mark on the history of Mississippi athletics. He received the NHSACA Dwight Keith Award and is a member of the MAC Hall of Fame, the Mississippi College Sports Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. In addition, the state high school all-star football game, which began in 1950,was taken over by the MAC in 1993 and in 1994, was renamed the Bernard Blackwell All-Star Football Classic in his honor.

This story was originally published July 3, 2018 at 11:16 AM.