This is part three of the column 'Legendary Coaches.' You can find the first two parts at www.GulfCoastMedia.com/harriet-outlaw.
BALDWIN COUNTY TRAINING SCHOOL Until Douglasville was built, …
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This is part three of the column 'Legendary Coaches.' You can find the first two parts at www.GulfCoastMedia.com/harriet-outlaw.
Until Douglasville was built, Baldwin County Training School in Daphne was the only high school for African American students. Many traveled miles to continue their education after completing the eighth grade in one of the local one-room schoolhouses across the county. The Alumni Association has curated a tribute to those years it operated until it was consolidated with the Daphne feeder school pattern in the late Sixties and early Seventies. By that time, a school had been opened in Bay Minette and also Aaronville in Foley. The museum has one room dedicated to the athletic programs of the school, and thanks to Vickie Graham, I was treated to a visit there. Photos from the yearbooks give a hint of the pride that the Wolverine teams brought to the school and community.
When the class of 1949 held a reunion, they presented a unique award to their beloved coach, Leslie C. Taylor who had fielded the first football team in 1946. It reads: Coach of the Year for Outstanding Management of the 1948-1949 Football Team.
I had the pleasure of knowing Coach Bailey Yelding, who later served as Daphne City Mayor. This family is representative of the upstanding leadership traits of everyone who taught at BCTS. People who went to school there sing the praises of each and every faculty member. A wall of photos showing the staff is in the model classroom in the museum.
When the school was consolidated, students were transferred to Fairhope High School with other Daphne and Spanish Fort students. Coach Yelding went with them and became a highly respected coach and administrator there. When Daphne High School was built, the school chose the Purple and Gold colors of BCTS.
The BCTS building was converted to the Daphne Middle School and the football field was put to good use. Now, the W.J. Carroll school is on that campus, named for the highly respected longtime principal of BCTS. When the new school was built, the school system agreed to preserve the white building that is now the Black Education Museum. It was built by students under the management of Augostino Guarisco and served as the Home Economics and Shop classes.
Vicki told me that she well remembers a cheer for field goal attempts:
"You can't go around it,
You can't go through it,
Funny how those things stick in your memory.
Just this year Coach Lyle Underwood added to his accolades when the City of Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan presented him with a key to the city. He had served as principal at Fairhope Middle School after he left an illustrious coaching stint at Baldwin County High School.
Coach Underwood was head football coach in Bay Minette from 1966-1980 and racked up records that still are unbroken. In The Baldwin Times, June 2025, Colin James summed up his coaching career:
Underwood was the head coach at Baldwin County High School from 1966 to 1980, where he accumulated a 102-38-3 record and seven county championships during his tenure. In his time as head coach, his teams were ranked in the top 10 in the state eight out of 14 years.
Two of his teams, 1973 and 1976, were undefeated, and more than 40 of his players signed football scholarships. He coached 90 All-County players, 17 All-State Players and four All-American players. Coach "Bull" Underwood started his football career playing for Foley High School and at Florence State College. He was inducted into the Foley Lions and Baldwin Athletics Halls of Fame, then was honored by the Baldwin County Coaches and Alabama High School Athletic Association Halls of Fame. His honors wall at home is covered in plaques!
When Baldwin County High School was blended with Douglasville High School, Underwood was co-coach with Herndon Ellis, Douglasville coach. The two gentlemen led the newly integrated team to become brothers and their examples of teamwork made all the difference in the success of the athletic programs.
The City of Bay Minette is tops among those who have honored him. Simmons Field, behind the Bay Minette Elementary School, was named Lyle Underwood Stadium in 2013. Bay Minette's Communications Center features posters of some of the most influential citizens and Coach Underwood's is right there! Just so you know, I found most of the BCHS yearbooks scanned on the City of Bay Minette website. Look up your friends!
Legends are built, not born, and these Baldwin County coaches of the 1950s-1960s exemplify the ethics of leadership that create this heritage. Thank you to each and every coach who has become a part of our history here in our county. Your legend will live on.
