When Scottsboro Wildcats fans talk football, the name John Meadows automatically comes up. Without a doubt, Coach Meadows is one of the all-time greats to grace a football field.

A native of Neel, Alabama in Morgan County, John Louie Meadows graduated from Falkville High School in 1942. He played three sports and was valedictorian of his class. After a stint in World War II, Meadows enrolled at Jacksonville State, playing football and making the Little All-American team as a wide receiver. He was named to JSU's All-Time Team in 1983 and was inducted into the JSU Hall of Fame in 1985. He graduated from Jacksonville State in 1951.

Coach Meadows began his career at Cullman High School in 1952 where he served as an assistant for three years. From there, he accepted the position of head coach at Hanceville High School and started himself on the road to one of the most extraordinary distinctions in high school coaching. He produced at least on undefeated team at every school at which he served as head coach in Alabama. His two-year record at Hanceville was 17-2-1 with an undefeated team in 1955.

At Gordo his two-year record was 16-1-2 with an undefeated team in 1957. In seven years at Scottsboro his teams were 55-9-5 with undefeated teams in 1960 and 1965. His 1965 team at Scottsboro won the Associated Press Class 3A State Championship. In addition to his five undefeated teams and five state playoff appearances, Coach Meadows had three teams that played in post-season bowl games, winning all three.

When he retired after the 1978 season, both the City of Huntsville and the State of Alabama proclaimed a day in his honor. Ten years later Huntsville and Madison County honored him again by making him one of the first inductees in the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame.

But it was also in 1979 that he launched a second coaching career, moving across the state line to Fayetteville, Tennessee, to the consolidated Lincoln County High School. Within three years he had led the new school to a Tennessee State championship. In 11 years at Lincoln County, Coach Meadows produced a record of 87-29 with five state playoff appearances and several bowl games.

Huntsville Times Sports Editor John Pruett wrote of Coach Meadows: "He is a coaching legend in two states. As far as I know he is the only coach who has won state championships in both Alabama and Tennessee."

Coach Meadows was inducted into the Alabama State Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Pickens County Sports Hall of Fame in 1995.