Dave Hunter inducted into the inaugural Brookwood Football Hall of Fame Class

Dave Hunter, the legendary Brookwood head coach and co-founder of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic was inducted into the Brookwood Football Hall of Fame Thursday, representing their inaugural class. This adds to an already large list of accomplishments and recognitions for him as he is in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Gwinnett County Sports Hall of Fame, Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame, and the Brookwood High School Hall of Fame.

Along with Hunter, Coach Mark Crews, Coach Ray Allen, Dr. Gary Levengood, Jason Elam, Curt McGill, Stephon Heyer, Mansfield Wrotto, Rennie Curran, Cameron Lynch, Nick Moore, and Kendall Williamson were inducted into the Brookwood Football Hall of Fame. This honor is very special for him as his accomplishments as the head coach of the Broncos are recognized by the football program itself.

“This is special because it’s Brookwood football,” Hunter said. “That was my business so it really makes it special.”

Brookwood has appeared in every game of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic since its founding in 1992 and Hunter knows how important it is to have the school he coached for and had so much success at in every edition of the annual kickoff of the Georgia High School Football season.

“It’s critically important,” he said. “The two schools grandfathered into the game are McEachern and Brookwood, we were the first two schools to play in it in 1992. At the time the Georgia Dome was opening, I think we were the first football game played in the Georgia Dome.”

Looking at the success he had in 15 seasons with Brookwood, Hunter had an overall record of 149-36, won a state championship in 1996, and five region championships taking place in 1988, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 1998. He led the Broncos to the quarterfinal round or farther in seven seasons with two appearances in the state championship game. Hunter was the Region Coach of the Year six times and the State of Georgia Coach of the Year twice. He did a lot to lift up the Brookwood community and does not take his time there for granted.

“It means an awfully lot,” Hunter said. “Bruce Stevens was the first coach and did a nice job, and anytime you open a new school is really difficult. I came in ‘87, and there was no field house, there was no stadium, there was nothing, and the Brookwood community built all of that. So there’s a lot of ownership there, we all had the sweat equity in it and put our time and money in it. And I often say we built a village, not just a community, we built a village.”

The “Godfather of Gwinnett Football,” which he was nicknamed by Gwinnett coaches, will get to see his Broncos face off against Houston County in the 34th annual edition of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic. The team looks to even out their overall record at the Classic as they currently sit at 16-17. Kickoff for that game is at 1 PM on August 16 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, live on the Peachtree Sports Network and Atlanta News First.

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