Former Murphy football coach David Gentry, North Carolina’s winningest high school football coach and a nine-time state champion with the Bulldogs, has been elected to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, it was announced Tuesday.
Gentry won an NCHSAA record 426 games, 366 of which came while he was with the Bulldogs, also a record for most at one school.
Gentry was a four-sport standout at Edneyville and played college football at Elon, where he later joined the coaching staff as an undergraduate assistant. He started his head coaching career at Chatham, Virginia, before taking over at his alma mater for nine seasons.
After 38 years of coaching Murphy, and 47 years coaching football overall, Gentry retired in the 2020-21 spring season after leading Murphy to a state championship for the ninth time.
Alongside Swain County coach Boyce Deitz, Gentry was elected to the NCHSAA Hall of Fame in 2023.
NEW CONFERENCES:NCHSAA releases draft of conference realignments for 2025-29 under new classifications
Gentry is part of the 11-person Class of 2025, the 61st class in the Hall’s history. Other members of the class include Greg Ellis, Nora Lynn Finch, Rollie Geiger, Dale Inman, Bobby Isaac, Cullen Jones, Chester McGlockton, Wendy Palmer, Jimmy Raye and Miles Wolff.
The induction ceremony will be held May 2, 2025, in Greensboro.
Evan Gerike is the high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @EvanGerike.
