Longtime Murphy High School football coach David Gentry, the winningest coach in North Carolina high school football history, has been selected for the 2026 National High School Hall of Fame class. Gentry finished his career with 426 wins and nine state championships, building one of the state’s most dominant programs. He was previously inducted into the NCHSAA Hall of Fame (2023) and the NC Sports Hall of Fame (2025).

Click here to read more about the NFHS Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

Simply put, David Gentry is the winningest coach in the history of the NCHSAA in football. Gentry has compiled a 426-195-3 record in 47 years of coaching, giving him more wins than any coach in the history of NCHSAA Football. His record at Murphy alone is impressive, with a mark of 361-117-1, the most wins at a single school in NCHSAA Football history. Gentry’s teams won 9 State Championships and finished as runner-up an additional three times. 

He has collected 18 conference championships in the highly competitive Smoky Mountain Conference, winning Conference Coach of the Year 18 times as well. Gentry was the 2017 Shrine Bowl Head Coach. He was selected as one of the NCHSAA’s 100 Coaches to Remember in the Centennial Celebration of the Association in 2013 and was inducted into the WNC Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. The football field at Murphy is named in his honor.