Former Georgia high school coach dies at 80

PEROTE, ALABAMA - Graham Hixon, one of the winningest high school coaches in Georgia history, died Wednesday at his home in Alabama.

Hixon, 80, was a graduate of Auburn University and earned a Masters degree in mathematics at the University of Georgia. He taught and coached at Commerce and Gainesville, Ga., from 1949 until 1963, when he went to Woodward Academy, a private school just south of Atlanta.

Hixon, who had a head coaching record of 279-91-17, ranking him No. 17 among Georgia coaches. He won state championships at Woodward in 1970 and 1980.

Before a game in September, the school honored the coach by naming its field at Colquitt Stadium for him.

Hixon was named to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, and is a 2006 inductee to the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

The funeral will be Saturday at Union Springs Presbyterian Church after a visitation at Gray Funeral Home in Union Springs, Ala.