When Rodney Terry heard the news, his mind flooded with several emotions.

And who could blame him?

The 1978 Hanceville graduate, along with 10 other marvelous honorees, will enter into the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame when the 19th class is officially installed during the annual banquet at the Civic Center on Saturday, April 28 at 6:30 p.m.

“Obviously, I was humbled and very honored as well,” Terry said. “It’s always an incredible honor when you are notified about something like that.”

Terry participated in basketball, football and track during his prep career with the Bulldogs.

He earned All-County, All-Area and All-State recognition as a member of the 1977 football team that netted an 11-1 record and reached the Class 3A state semifinals under coach Ray Talley.

“The biggest thing about that team was the teamwork and camaraderie,” said Terry, who played center and linebacker. “We had been together since Pee Wee. Our coach instilled in us that we couldn’t do anything at all that wasn’t perfect. If it wasn’t perfect, we had to do it over. We bought into that as young guys.”

“But it was just a different world with coach Talley when he arrived in 1976. Everything just clicked perfectly. We already had that winning attitude in the first place, so it was a perfect storm when he showed up.”

Terry later assisted under Talley from 1983-89 and was part of two other semifinal teams in 1985 and 1986.

While the eventual season-ending semifinal losses stung as a player, they were magnified as a coach.

“As a coach, it’s a completely different feeling,” Terry said. “It hurts to lose as a player, but it hurts more as a coach, because you know how bad the kids feel.”

He jokingly added: “I think I’m the only three-time semifinal loser in Cullman County.”

Terry also coached basketball and track (boys and girls) at Hanceville. 

On April 28, though, all of his hard work over the years will come full circle … and he simply can’t wait.

“I’m looking forward to having my friends and some guys I’ve coached show up,” Terry said. “That would really be cool. Some of the people I haven’t seen in a long time … it’d be nice to see them. I’ll be extremely excited for my wife and kids to be there as well.”