Messenger file photo by Alex Chaney
Courtesy of AHSAA
Longtime Hokes Bluff High School educator and coach Mike Robertson was one of 13 persons recently selected for induction into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023.
The class was selected from more than 75 nominations by the selection committee of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association.
The induction ceremony will take place at a banquet held in Montgomery in this March.
As a role model on and off the field, Robertson has touched his students and players in a positive way. The school honored him in 2018 by naming the school’s football stadium Michael Robertson Stadium. He was inducted into the Etowah County Hall of Fame in 2016. Robertson has also spent 40 years running the City of Hokes Bluff public pool during the summer.
“I’m very appreciative,” said Robertson. “It means you’ve been around for a long time, which I guess is good in one way. We’ve had our ups and downs the last few years and had some good runs before that. [The award] gives Hokes Bluff a little limelight. Anybody that’s ever lived out here knows that we’ve got a good community. I’ve always had great support along with great assistant coaches. But more importantly, I’ve had great support from my family and my players.”
After three years at Southside High School, the valedictorian of Hokes Bluff’s Class of 1977 returned to his alma mater, where he was an All-State quarterback and basketball and baseball standout.
Robertson, who is also the HBHS athletic director, attended Gadsden State and Athens State, receiving his degree in 1981. He later earned his master’s degree from the University of Alabama and his EDS from Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee.
During Robertson’s five decades at HBHS, he has served as head coach in girls’ basketball for 23 years, in baseball for 13 years and in football for 27 years. He compiled a 174-127 football record, with 15 teams reaching the state playoffs. His 2001 squad finished 13-2 and won the Class 4A state crown.Robertson played on three Hokes Bluff state baseball championship teams in high school. His 2018 team finished as state runner-up.
Joining Robertson in the Class 0f 2023 were football coaches Paul Benefield, Steve Giddens, David Powell and Trent Taylor; basketball coaches Homer Davis, Ronald Jackson, Tim Miller, Jack Steele and John Woody and administrator Charles McCaleb. Baseball and football coach William “Earl” Griffin and basketball coach Matthew L. Jones were selected in the Old-Timers’ Division.
Chris McCarthy contributed to this article.