Nashville area sports figures who died in 2021 include Floyd Reese, Claude Humphrey

The Nashville sports community lost several well-known and accomplished sports figures in 2021.

Here's a look at some of those who died from the high school ranks to college all the way up to the pros:

• Tom Acker, 90 (Jan. 4). Acker, described by The Tennessean as a "fireballing pitcher" for the Nashville Vols, went 11-8 in 1955 before spending four years with the Cincinnati Reds.

• Maceo Coleman, 72 (Jan. 5). Coleman was a 1,000-yard rusher at Pearl High (1966) who signed with Iowa then transferred to Tennessee State, where his father Alvin Coleman was the backfield coach. Maceo moved to wide receiver and became one of quarterback Joe Gilliam Jr.'s favorite receivers. He became the football coach at Fisk in 1982.

• Brad Stuart, 52 (Jan. 19), Stuart was a Trevecca NAIA All-America baseball player (1988-90) who batted .406 as a senior. He was enshrined into the Trevecca Hall of Fame in 2002.

• Ron Johnson, 64 (Jan. 26). Johnson was a first baseman and outfielder for the Nashville Sounds in 1985. He was manager of Omaha (1998-99), Pawtucket (2005-09) and Norfolk (2012-18). He died in Murfreesboro because of COVID-19.

• Charlie Anderson, 86 (Jan. 27). Anderson won 1,080 games as a high school and junior college basketball coach during his 40-year career. He coached at Central, Stratford, Bellevue, Hillsboro, Nashville Christian and finished his career at M.L. King, where he was an assistant for his grandson Caden Anderson. The Stratford gym is named in his honor. Anderson was also the basketball coach and athletic director at Aquinas College and won the National Junior College Championship in 1991.

• Stan Palys, 90 (Feb. 8). Palys hit .359 for the Nashville Vols in 1957 and lost the batting title to Peanuts Lowrey by just two points.

• Melvin James, 54 (Feb. 18). James was an MTSU All-Ohio Valley Conference tight end in 1989. He helped lead the Blue Raiders to the quarterfinals of the FCS (then Division I-AA) playoffs.

• Kyle Bills, 65 (March 2). Bills started his basketball coaching career at Goodpasture. He moved to Lincoln County, where he was The Tennessean Class AAA Midstate boys coach of the year in 1989 and later coached at Franklin and MBA.

• Frankie De La Cruz, 37 (March 14). The Dominican Republic native and right-handed pitcher was 7-6 for the Nashville Sounds in 2011 and 1-7 in 2013. He died of a heart attack in his hometown of Santo Domingo two days after his 37th birthday.

• Jackie Pope, 80 (March 22). Pope transferred from Tennessee to MTSU, where be became an Associated Press All-America running back and defensive back in 1962. He also ran track and played baseball at MTSU. He went on to coach at Western Kentucky and was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and MTSU Sports Hall of Fame.

• Ray “Hoss” Fuller, 96 (April 24). Fuller refereed more than 7,500 high school football, basketball, baseball and softball games. He was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame and Middle Tennessee Football Officials Hall of Fame. The MTFOA sponsors college scholarships each year for three high school players in Fuller’s name.

• Jimmy Hagan, 85 (May 4). Hagan became Tennessee Tech’s first All-America basketball player when made the AP third team in 1958-59. He finished third in the nation in scoring (28.8 points) and 10th in rebounds (18.2). Hagan was enshrined in the Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1979 and his jersey No. 42 is among only four to be retired.

• Ben Cates, 76 (May 15). Cates became Oakland’s first girls basketball coach and spent 14 years there before retiring in 1986. He posted a 331-175 record. Cates was also founding director of the Rutherford County Recreation Department.

• Don Moser, 81 (May 26). After leading DuPont High's basketball team to the state tournament twice as a player in the 1950s, Moser spent 20 years as a high school coach with stints at Mt. Juliet, Portland, Joelton, DuPont, Whites Creek and Maplewood. He later served as athletics director and assistant principal at McGavock.

• Teegan Hill, 31 (July 4). Hill was a Vanderbilt track star (2009-12) from Lancaster, Texas. She specialized in the 200 and 400 meters. Hill ran 24.48 seconds in the outdoor 200 in 2009, which is 10th fastest in school history. She also ran a 55.01 in the outdoor 400 in 2009 which is sixth all-time. Hill and her sister Troinee Broom drowned in a boating accident.

• Mike Lorance, 89 (July 8). Lorance spent 35 years as outdoors editor of the Daily News Journal before retiring in 2015. In 1978 he became the first blind fisherman to compete on the Bassmaster tournament circuit. His autobiography, “Out of the Darkness into Light: A Blind Fisherman’s Story,” published in 2012 was enshrined for inclusion at the Smithsonian Institution.

• LaDarrell McNeil, 27 (July 9). McNeil was a safety for the Tennessee Vols who started a total of 41 games in his career (2012-15). He was the first member of the Vols' 2012 freshman class to earn a starting job and made the Freshman All-SEC team.

• Danny Gibson, 79 (Aug. 8). Gibson was a two-time high school state individual golf champion who led East to the 1958 team state championship. He spent 36 years working in Metro Parks and Recreation, including 22 as director of golf operations before retiring in 2002.

• Floyd Reese, 73 (Aug. 21). As general manager of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, Reese directed the franchise's transition from Houston to Nashville. He was a coach and executive director for the Oilers/Titans for 21 years. Highlights during Reese's career included a trip to Super Bowl XXXIV and two AFC Championship games. Reese also spent several years as co-host of a local sports talk call-in radio show.

• Parys Haralson, 37 (Sept. 13). Haralson was a defensive end and two-time captain for the Tennessee Vols (2002-05). He finished his career with 21 sacks, which is sixth all-time at UT. Haralson played in the NFL (2006-14), where he moved to linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints.

• Germont Wade, 48 (Sept. 25). As a Hillwood basketball standout, Wade scored 43 points in a game against Battle Ground Academy. He made The Tennessean 1991 Class AAA All-Metro first team and went on to play at Northeastern State.

• Major Wingate, 37 (Oct. 2). Wingate played basketball for Tennessee (2003-06). He was a 6-foot-10 center who started 52 games and played in 89. He averaged 6.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in his career.

• Mike Caldwell, 49 (Oct. 7). Caldwell was a longtime Hume-Fogg softball coach who became the first coach at Sycamore when the school opened in 1998. He led Sycamore to the 2002 state tournament. The softball field at Sycamore was named in Caldwell's honor.

• Randall Tidwell, 78 (Oct. 11). After being an all-city guard on the 1960 Antioch football team, which won the Nashville Interscholastic League championship, Tidwell spent 40 years coaching football, cross-country and track at his alma mater. He moved into administration at M.L King and retired as principal at Middle Tennessee Christian School in 2005.

• Chuck Bean, 58 (Oct. 19). Bean was a 1981 state champion wrestler and The Tennessean wrestler of the year. He made the All-NIL wrestling team as a junior and senior. Bean posted a 40-0-1 record as a senior and had 106 career wins. He went on to wrestle at Chattanooga and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2017.

••Claude Humphrey, 77 (Dec. 3). Humphrey, a Memphis native, was a TSU defensive tackle who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014, the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2012, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1988 and the TSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1983. He helped lead TSU to a 35-3-1 record from 1965-67. The 1967 team won the national championship for predominately Black schools.

• Charles Searcy, 83 (Dec. 18). Searcy spent 47 years in the newspaper business including 22 as outdoors editor/writer for The Tennessean. He was the Tennessee Sports Writers Association outdoors writer of the year in 1988 and inducted into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame in 2019.

Master P. throws local holiday party

Hip hop mogul Master P (Percy Miller), whose son Hercy recently transferred from the Tennessee State basketball team after suffering a hip injury, threw a holiday party Dec. 18 for the students and parents at Warner Arts Magnet School.

Master P. paid for gifts, food and drinks for the party. He told the faculty, students and guests he was living up to the vow he made to serve the Nashville community when his son signed with TSU last spring.

"I love y'all," Master P. Said. "Education is so important. And I want people to know even if my son don't go to school here I'm still going to be in the community."

Hercy Miller, a freshman who played in six games for TSU, has not said where he plans to transfer.

Chase McCabe is new program director for The Game 102.5-FM

Chase McCabe was named program director/brand manager for The Game 102.5-FM following the departure of Ryan Porth.

Porth, who spent 10 years at the station, was hired as assistant brand manager for The Score WSCR 670-AM in Chicago. Porth also served as executive producer of the Nashville Predators Radio Network.

McCabe, an MTSU graduate, began his career with Cromwell Media as a producer for various shows on The Game before joining as co-host of the “Darren, Daunic and Chase” midday show.

Vanderbilt's Carlton Hall named football coach at Millikin

Former Vanderbilt All-SEC linebacker Carlton Hall is the new football coach at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Hall spent the past two years as defensive coordinator.

“This is an incredibly special opportunity,” Hall said. “It is my honor to be the head football coach here and it will be our duty to create and generate relationships that will not only last for the next four, three or two years with our players but for the next 40 or 50 years.”

Before his arrival at Millikin, Hall spent three seasons at Southern Oregon as linebackers coach. He also had stops at Yale, Harvard, Houston and Williams College.

Hall was a three-year starter at Vanderbilt who led the SEC in tackles (97) as a senior in 1997 and made the All-SEC first team.

Ex-Belmont star Paris Lawson up for sportscaster of the year

Former Belmont women's basketball player Paris Lawson is now an in-game broadcaster in the NBA and has been nominated for the National Sports Media Association Oklahoma Sportscaster of the Year.

The Murfreesboro native serves as a broadcast and digital reporter for the Oklahoma City Thunder, where she is one of four on-air, in-game personalities.

Lawson helped lead Belmont to four-straight OVC championships and NCAA Tournament berths.

Pearl-Cohn's Xavier Shepherd, now at Kennesaw, is an All-American

Former Pearl-Cohn quarterback Xavier Shepherd, now a sophomore at Kennesaw State, was named a Hero Sports FCS first-team All-American. He had 1,341 passing yards and 1,016 rushing.

Shepherd also set several records while becoming he Owls’ first quarterback to win 11 of his first 12 starts. He set the school record for most touchdowns in a season (15) and in a game (4).

He also set the Big South Conference record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a conference game (179) and rushed for an FCS-best 23 touchdowns.

TSU's Nick Harper Jr., Tech's Kurt Huff play in FCS Bowl

TSU defensive back Nick Harper Jr. and Tennessee Tech offensive lineman Kurt Huff teamed up to play in the FCS Bowl in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Harper Jr., the son of former Titan Nick Harper, and Huff were on the National Team, which lost to the American Team 67-16.

McGowan hired as Austin Peay soccer coach

Kim McGowan was named coach of the Austin Peay women’s soccer team, meaning she will lead the Governors into their first season in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2022. Austin Peay is leaving the OVC.

The Cincinnati native spent the last four seasons on the staff at Miami (Ohio).

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

Sports on Nashville TV

The five highest-rated sports events locally for the week ending Dec. 12 in Nashville:

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville sports deaths in 2021 include Floyd Reese, Claude Humphrey