Samford University Athletics

Buddy Anderson, one of the top high school football coaches in the history of the state of Alabama, played his college football at Samford University. Anderson played for the Bulldogs from 1968-71. In his senior season, Anderson helped lead the Bulldogs to the NCAA West Region Championship with a 20-10 win over Ohio Wesleyan. After graduation, he went to work at Vestavia Hills High School as an assistant coach in 1972 and was promoted to head coach in 1978. He remained in that role until 2020. Along the way he won more games than any other high school coach in Alabama history, and he led the program to state titles in 1980 and 1998. Anderson is a member of both the Alabama High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame and National Federation of State High Schools Association Hall of Fame. He was also inducted as a member of the 1971 Samford football team into the Samford Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.