“Tradition never graduates” is a phrase that has been associated with Huntingdon Football for a long time. On Wednesday, July 15, a large crowd gathered at City Hall in Huntingdon to hear the history of Huntingdon Football that put meaning to that phrase at the monthly meeting of the Huntingdon Historical Society.
Johnny McClure moderated the program, and the crowd listened to a discussion from current head football coach, Eric Swenson and former defensive coordinator, Jimmy Pritchard. Swenson joined the staff in Huntingdon in 1994 and served as offensive coordinator until he left to become head coach at Hickman County in 2005 and returned in 2009 and has served as head coach since taking over for Mike Mansfield.
Swenson won his first state championship as head coach this past season and passed Paul Ward on the list for most wins at HHS. Pritchard started his coaching career at McKenzie in the late 70’s and spent five years there before coming to Huntingdon where he played in the late sixties.
The discussion ranged from stories told by both coaches of past players and events surrounding certain games to state championships that both coaches were a part of in 2003 and 2025. Swenson was the offensive coordinator on the 2003 team and head coach of the 2025 team. Pritchard was defensive coordinator in 2003 and the color analyst of the radio broadcast for the blue and gold network in 2025.
Pritchard gave the history of when Huntingdon football started. Huntingdon Middle School currently stands in the spot that Southern Normal College sat in 1904 and fielded the first football team but was a private school at the time. They lost their first game 91-0 to Castle Heights of Nashville and the nest week lost 75-0. Southern Normal remained a teachers school and later an industrial trade school until it became a public school and HHS in 1919.
In 1927, J.O. Mills a math teacher at the school became responsible for building an athletic program that consisted of basketball and football. From 1927 through 1934 the schools mascot was originally the Eagles and then changed to the Blue Eagles until 1934 when the Mustangs became the mascot.
It was in 1934 that a young C.H.Pudor arrived at Huntingdon via Chicago, Notre Dame University and later Union University to take over as coach. The first football field was called Solomon Field and was located around where Huntingdon Church of Christ sits today. Later a field was made on Lexington Highway until the Mustangs moved to the fairgrounds which is now called Edwards Park.
Huntingdon High School was where the Middle School is now in 1936 and was renovated in 1938. The bell tower at the middle school today is the original bell that was placed in 1938. Behind the high school was the field where the Mustangs played and later became Pudor Field until the school was moved to its current location in 1980.
Coach Pritchard referred to Pudor as Godfather of Huntingdon football. Bob Bourne was the first of many all-state players over the years in the 30’s and James McClemore went on to play at Mississippi State during that time. Larry Stewart was an all-American in 1956 to top a list of players that excelled in the early years of Mustang football.
Coach Pritchard and Swenson talked about how technology has changed over the years. Pritchard had an old helmet that little or no padding and would not be in use today. Swenson said film swapping is the biggest change over the history of HHS football as he remembered driving hours to swap films with opponents and now,he can watch film instantly after a game from his computer or phone.
Both coaches talked about numerous players that they coached or were around and the list was endless. Pritchard played with Tim Priest who still holds SEC records. Larry Stewart, Bull Crossno, Terence Tate, Reggie Gordon, Sedarius Hutcherson, Jake and Tyler Warbritton, Logan Diebold, Tyler Bush, Chris Donal, Boo Weathers, Kade Pearson ,Dylan Johnson were just a few of the players that were mentioned during the discussion.
Both coaches were then asked about the two state championship seasons they were a part of. Swenson said the 2025 team was just a bunch of kids that believed in themselves when no one else did. Picked to finish fifth in their region, they were just a laid-back bunch that felt no pressure and everything just went right for the Mustangs last season. Pritchard said the 2003 team was very similar to 2025. Both teams lost to Milan during the regular season by a wide margin and both defeated Milan in the semifinals to earn a title berth.
Swenson said Malcom Pendergrass was the coach that had the biggest influence on his career. Swenson played for Pendergrass in Harriman and came to West Carroll as assistant in the early nineties. Pritchard said John Tucker at Milan and Paul Ward had the biggest influence on his career.
John Stevens, state senator, and Brock Martin a state representative presented both coaches with a copy of a resolution recognizing the 2025 Mustangs state championship that was presented at the state legislature last fall.
