He has coached football for 38 years in the state of Alabama and on May 30, 2009 Larry Blakeney’s legacy will be cemented as one of the greatest coaches in the history of the state when he is inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

Blakeney will join Steve Bolt, Charley Hannah, Jimmy Key, Lee May and John Mitchell in the Modern Category of the ASHOF Class of 2009.

“I am very humbled by this honor,” Blakeney said. “For a guy that has been in the state of Alabama his whole life it is great.”

Making it as a coach and not a player is more of an accomplishment for Blakeney.

“A lot of people have made this possible for me along the way and that makes it even more of a special honor,” he said.

Blakeney said the list is long for the people he needs to call and thank for helping him achieve this milestone in his career. He said it was all the players he has coached, the assistants he has worked with and the head coaches he has worked for who allowed him the opportunity to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was not able to do it alone.

Blakeney was a little busy when he got the call from ASHOF executive director Bill Legg last week.

“It was right in the middle of last week when I got a call from coach Legg and I was taken aback and shocked,” Blakeney said. “I knew I was on the ballot and I had been on the ballot before, but I wasn’t going to go out campaigning. However, I think I had some people out campaigning for me and I am indebted to those people for what they did for me.”

Blakeney found out about the honor right in the middle of preparation for the Lafayette game.

He said it was hard not to tell the players until after the game.

“I was trying to hold onto it as long as possible, but that is hard to do,” Blakeney said. “Not that it was bad news, it was certainly good news, but it complicated my week a little bit. But it was a great complication. I have a lot of friends I now need to thank.”