Longtime president of TSSAA Legislative Council retires

The foundation was laid by his parents.

The dedication and determination carried Dan Black throughout parts of five decades of service in both public education, high school coaching and leadership roles on TSSAA executive committees.

But the people … all those amazing people, they are what kept Black serving year after year after year until he tallied 55 years’ service and more than a quarter-century serving the TSSAA.

Now, Black has retired.

“Athletics, to me, is a very important part of school activities and I’ve just enjoyed working with people on the TSSAA Legislative Council and the Board and folks in the TSSAA office,” said Black. His mother, Faye, was a former elementary and high school teacher while his dad served a long tenure as an assistant principal in West Tennessee, as well as working for the Department of Education. “Some of my best friends are people I served with on the Legislative Council and met when I became president on the Board of Control. It’s always great. I have been blessed to have great leadership there. Always enjoyed meeting there.

“I enjoyed what I was doing, enjoyed working with the TSSAA, teachers, administrators, enjoyed working with the kids. It wasn’t much of a job; something I enjoyed doing most of the days.”

A TSSAA Hall of Fame inductee who joined his father with that honor, Dan Black coached a bit of almost everything along his path into administrative roles and executive leadership positions for the TSSAA. He served the schools of nine West Tennessee counties for nine three-year terms – a whopping 27 years – and was elected president of the Legislative Council by that board each year.

“Dan has provided years of dedicated leadership to the association through his service on the Legislative Council, including his tenure as president,” said TSSAA Executive Director Mark Reeves. “His steady leadership, thoughtful perspective, and commitment to the association have been invaluable as TSSAA has navigated some of the most challenging issues facing the organization.

“We are deeply grateful for his many years of service and the lasting impact he has made on the association.”

While TSSAA service marked much of this century for Black, there were stints coaching baseball, basketball, golf and even a year helping coach Crockett County football.

There are special memories, too, from his years in coaching at Maury City, Ripley and Crockett County after the systemwide merger.

There wasn’t much he found to complain about; instead, he relished the ride. He knew early in his college years that he wanted to follow in his parents’ footsteps, and then he gained a great mentor during his student-teaching days under Charlie Anderson.

“Well, my parents were both educators, and I guess after my sophomore year I decided I might want the same thing, thought I’d enjoy coaching,” Black said. “I was really fortunate that I did my student-teaching under Charlie Anderson at Stratford at that time. I really learned a lot from him.

“I just never felt all those years that it was any kind of big deal. Loved what I was doing, enjoyed being around the kids and the people. Just felt fortunate.”

Black won a total of 368 games as a basketball coach, served three decades as an athletics director and 14 years as Maury City High School’s principal prior to that school’s merger.

His 2015 induction into the TSSAA Hall of Fame came exactly 20 years after the induction of his father, who had served in the United States Marine Corps and then transitioned into public education, coaching and, eventually, officiating more than 3,000 career basketball games.

“We took Maury City to the state tournament for the first time in the history of school, then when I went to Ripley, we took a team there to the state tournament, got beat in the semifinals,” said Black, father of three and incredibly active with his eight grandchildren. “I was proud of that, because it showed I had good athletes and kids that didn’t mind working hard.

“At Crockett County, our baseball team one year got beat in substate. Only four went to the state tournament at the time and we made it to the final eight and got beat.”

In all of his endeavors in coaching and public education service to his students, Black tried to instill one element above all else in his quest to help them on a path to success.

“For them to always do their best,” said Black, a former two-sport standout in high school who played two years of collegiate baseball and basketball at Freed-Hardeman University, then just a two-year institution, and finished at Lipscomb. “I expected 110% out of them in practice and hopefully that would carry over into their lives, to just always seek to do your best.

“If you do your best and know you did your best, you can’t complain.”

Which, ultimately, kept Black serving year after year in both public schools and TSSAA service.

TSSAA proudly salutes Dan Black for his decades of service as a member of the Legislative Council, Legislative Council President, and an educator who truly made an impact on student-athletes in Tennessee.