Who Is Pelham High School's Most Famous Alum?

PELHAM, AL - Pelham High School opened in 1974, and in more than four decades, the school has produced thousands of students who have gone on to success in business, entertainment, sports, family and more. Measuring success in life is certainly a relative measurement, but what about fame?

Who would be considered Pelham High School's most famous alumnus? This could be debated over several hours among the residents of Pelham, but here are five nominees for the most famous Panther:

Diedre Downs '98

After graduating from Pelham in 1998, Downs attended the University of Virginia on a volleyball scholarship. However, Downs transferred to Samford University after her freshman year and that transfer resulted in her losing her scholarship, so she began competing in local pageants to earn scholarship money. That paid off more than she could have possibly imagined, because Downs was crowned Miss Alabama in 2004, and in 2005 became just the third Miss Alabama to be crowned Miss America.

Brent Hinds '92

Brent Hinds has the unique distinction of being the only Pelham High School alum to win a Grammy Award. As the guitarist for the metal band Mastadon, Hinds moved to Atlanta after high school and pursued his music career. Mastadon has been nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning one this year for their song, "Sultan's Curse." Hinds and his band had the best selling album in the U.S. at one point last year, with their release Emperor of Sand.

Michael Proctor '92

Proctor, an All-State placekicker for the Panthers, tied an Alabama high school record his senior year when he kicked a 63-yard field goal against Mountain Brook. He was recruited by dozens of schools, but chose to take his golden leg to the University of Alabama. His freshman year, he was a major part of the 1992 national championship team at Alabama, and his sophomore year, he led the entire country in field goals made with 22, and led the SEC in points with 97. He was named an All-American, and finished his career as one of the all-time leading scorers in SEC history.

Dabo Swinney '88

Dabo Swinney is considered one of the best head coaches in all of college football, and he has built his successful coaching career by working his way up the coaching ranks over decades of experience. But Swinney owes much of that success to his football years at Pelham High School. A wide receiver at Pelham, Swinney lettered four years and ended up walking on at the University of Alabama. He was awarded a scholarship by coach Gene Stallings, and was part of the 1992 national championship team. Swinney was an assistant coach at Alabama, and later joined Clemson coach Tommy Bowden on his staff. After Bowden stepped down in 2008, Swinney took over as head coach and in 2016 led Clemson to its first national championship since 1981.

Tyler Watts '98

Watts was one of the most decorated high school quarterbacks in Alabama sports history by the time he graduated from Pelham High School in 1998. Watts was a three year starter at Pelham, and was named to the All-State team twice. He finished his high school football career with 6,838 yards passing with 55 touchdowns. Watts then went on to play four years at the University of Alabama, splitting starting duties with Andrew Zow. He finished his collegiate career at Alabama with 3,540 yards passing and 1.128 yards rushing. He later went to the broadcast booth to do color commentary for Alabama tv broadcasts.

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