Longtime Clayton coach Gary Fowler receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Gary Fowler spent 28 seasons pacing the sidelines of the football field at Clayton High School. He also served as the school's athletic director.
On Saturday, Fowler will be recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award at HighSchoolOT Honors.
In his 28 years, Fowler saw much success. His teams won over 200 games, including the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A state championship in 1989. The 30th anniversary of the state championship season is this fall.
"I've probably been the luckiest man in this area for the last 28 years," Fowler told HighSchoolOT when he decided to retire in 2012. "This school and this community has been so good to me."
Clayton is one of just a handful of Triangle area schools that claims a football state title.
"That's a hard dog to catch. You look at the good programs throughout this area, look at the great coaches who have coached for a long time, and they've never won one," he said. "We had great kids, a great staff, and we caught some big breaks along the way."
In 2015, the football stadium at Clayton was renamed to Nixon-Fowler Stadium, recognizing two of the most well-known high school football coach in the area, Fowler and Glenn Nixon. The two coached the football team at Clayton for a combined 53 years.
"There are not too many schools in North Carolina that can say that two guys were able to stay in one place for 53 years," Fowler said before the dedication. "That's kind of unique about this whole situation."
