BIRMINGHAM – Former Jacksonville State football coach Bill Burgess has been selected for induction to the Gulf South Conference Hall of Fame, the league announced on Monday.
 
Burgess, who coached the Gamecocks for 12 seasons from 1985-96 and built Jax State into one of the top Division II programs in the nation, will be officially celebrated as part of the Class of 2023 on Wednesday, May 31 at 5:30 pm CT at the Hilton Pensacola Beach Hotel in Pensacola, Fla. Information regarding tickets will be released prior the event. The ceremony will also be live streamed through GSC's Facebook Page.
 
After posting an overall record of 84-49-4 with four conference titles and the 1992 NCAA Division II National Championship, Burgess adds another Hall of Fame selection to his resume.  He was inducted into the Jacksonville State Athletics Hall of Fame and the Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and the NCAA Division II Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
 
Eight of his 12 season at JSU came in the GSC, where he led the Gamecocks to conference titles in 1988, 1989, 1991 and 1992 – all within their final five seasons in the league before moving to Division I. He led the Gamecocks to their first National Championship in football in 1992 and also coached the Gamecocks to the National Championship Game three times.
 
His overall record included a 79-22-4 record during his years in the GSC, and his teams posted a 42-15-3 conference record in GSC play. He was a three-time GSC Coach of the Year and the 1992 NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year. Under Burgess' guidance, JSU became the first GSC program in history to win 13 games in a season in 1989.
 
Burgess coached 64 All-GSC Players and Nine All-Americans during his GSC tenure at JSU, who honored him in 2021 by naming its football field Burgess-Snow Field, previously Paul Snow Stadium, after him. In 2021, he received the Alabama Football Coaches Association (ALFCA) Lifetime Achievement Award.
 
A Second-Team All-State player at Jones Valley High School in Birmingham, Burgess went on to play fullback at Auburn, where he lettered in 1961 and 1962. He took the head coaching job at Woodlawn HS in Birmingham in 1966 at the age of 25 and spent five seasons there before taking the head coaching position at Oxford HS in Oxford, Ala. He would stay there for 14 seasons before becoming the head coach at Jacksonville State in 1985. He retired after the 1996 season.