South Mississippi sports titan Lindy Callahan dies at 97. ‘This one hurts’
South Mississippi sports great Lindy Callahan died Wednesday at the age of 97, according to a news release and his official obituary.
Callahan was a longtime coach and administrator at Gulfport High School and eventually a two-term president of the Mississippi High School Activities Association.
The Vicksburg native lettered in football and baseball at Ole Miss before spending 39 years as a coach, teacher and administrator. Callahan’s legacy and influence led to the creation of the Lindy Callahan Scholar Athlete Award in 1995 — a scholarship awarded annually to 16 student athletes by the MHSAA.
“Coach Callahan for many is considered the father of modern athletics in Mississippi,” former GHS athletic director Bryan Caldwell told the Sun Herald. “He was one of the first full-time athletic directors. He created policies and processes that athletic departments across the state still follow. Simply put, he was ahead of his time.”
Callahan led Gulfport football from 1955 to 1965, winning 82 games and three then-called Mythical State Championships. At one point his Commodores enjoyed a 35-game undefeated streak in conference play. Gulfport had a 54-5-4 record over his last six seasons at the helm.
He was also the head coach for the baseball program.
Today the field at Milner Stadium is named after Callahan. His work, which included helping launch the Alabama-Mississippi All Star Game and being a charter member of the Mississippi Association of Coaches, not only left an immense impact on the structure of high school athletics in the state, but altered the lives of those who knew him.
“As a football coach and administrator, he touched hundreds if not thousands of lives,” Caldwell said. “So many of his former players still revere him and have a close relationship with him. This one hurts. Coach Callahan was a great mentor to so many men in this state. Not just on the Coast, but statewide... He was really good to me. He gave me my first coaching job and was somebody I could count on for advice and counsel when I was an athletic director.”
Callahan is a member of nine different halls of fame, including five national and four in Mississippi. These include the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2018) and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (2004).
He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Ann Fincher Callahan, as well as three children and 17 grandchildren and great grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Saturday, April 26 at St. James Catholic Church in Gulfport.
