Dodd Lee and Dean Shaw inducted into Coaches Hall of Fame
Press Release - Mississippi Association of Coaches
Two former Picayune Maroon Tide coaches were inducted into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame over the weekend. Dodd Lee and Dean Shaw were inducted on Friday evening.
Coach Dodd Lee completed a legendary championship career as head football coach and athletic director who led football programs at Bay High, East Central, and Picayune. Born in Hattiesburg, Coach Lee graduated from Picayune High and earned degrees from Pearl River CC and Southern Miss. He started a remarkable 39-year coaching career in 1981 when he returned to his alma mater at Picayune to work as an assistant football coach. In 1988, he moved to Bay St. Louis as an assistant and then as head coach of Bay High. He arrived in Hurley in 1990 to take over as head coach at East Central and led his teams to four playoff appearances in six seasons.
Lee returned to Picayune in 1996 where he would lead the Maroon Tide football program for the next 24 years. He guided his Picayune football squads to 11 district crowns, five appearances in the South State finals, 2 South State runner-up finishes, 3 South State championships, and two Class 5A state championships in 2011 and 2013.
During his career, he coached in 369 games with 267 wins and 102 losses for an amazing 72% winning mark. Thirteen of his football teams compiled 10 or more wins during his tenure. He was selected as Division Coach of the Year 10 times and as the MAC Football Coach of the Year in 2012. Coach Lee was a two-time MAC 5A Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2013 and he was a three-time Sun Herald Coach of the Year in 2006, 2011, and 2013. He was named the Gulf Coast Chapter of the National Football Foundation Coach of the Year three times in 1994, 2007, and 2011. He served as an assistant coach in 1994 and as head coach in 2010 in the Bernard Blackwell All-Star Football Classic. Coach Lee was an assistant coach in the 2004 Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Football Classic.
An amazing 24 of his former players have entered the coaching ranks. He served his profession as a clinic speaker for the MAC, the Gulf Coast Coaches’ Clinic and at Pearl River CC. In addition to his head coaching duties, Dodd served as athletic director at Picayune for 15 years from 1996 to 2010. In 2021, he was a volunteer assistant coach at Pearl River CC.
Coach Dean Shaw is an accomplished championship basketball coach that guided programs at Harrison Central and Picayune. A four-year letterman and three-year basketball starter at Hancock North Central, 1975 to 1979, Dean received a basketball scholarship at Mississippi College where he earned his degree in 1983. He began his 23-year coaching career at Picayune as an assistant under William “Butch” Van Breda Kolff, former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Jazz, and Hofstra University. He was named head coach in 1984 and remained with the Maroon Tide for 11 years before coaching at Harrison Central for one season. Coach Shaw concluded his coaching career at Picayune from 1996 to 2006 before entering school administration.
Shaw led his basketball teams to 552 wins with 169 losses out of 721 games coached. He paced his hoops squads to 4 district titles, 7 division crowns, 4 South State titles, and the 1996 Class 5A State Championship. Coach Shaw’s teams claimed 64 tournament championships and 48 of his players received college scholarships. He coached five teams that had 30-win seasons and 14 squads to 20-win seasons. He guided teams to two no. 1 state rankings, eight top five finishes, six top 10 standings, and two top 20 year-end rankings. Dean was named Coach of the Year 2 times by the Gulf Coast Conference, 2 times by the District, 4 times by the Division, 2 statewide Coach of the Week honors by the Jackson Clarion Ledger, and 3 times as Gulf Coast Coach of the Year by the Sun Herald. Coach Shaw served as a coach in the 1995 Mississippi High School All-Star game. Dean coached future NBA player Jonathan Bender at Picayune and also coached Sun Herald players of the year Tiffany Travis and Jerry Scott Smith. Dean is a longtime MAC member who served on the basketball executive committee.
Shaw is a remarkable civic leader who served as assistant principal, vocational director, and superintendent of the Picayune School District. Coach Shaw received a “Heart of a Lion” Award from the Picayune Lions Club and the “I Have A Dream” Award for his service on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Celebration Day Committee.
