Escambia football head coach Mike Bennett called Monday a “sad day.”
Carl Madison, the legendary football coach who left a legacy at Tate, Pine Forest, and Milton high schools in northwest Florida, passed away Sunday night after a long illness. He was 93 years old.
Madison spent more than 45 years coaching high school football at schools in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. And Madison found success wherever she went. He set an all-time record of 326-129-7, making him the second-winningest coach in Florida history.
Madison led Tate to a state championship in 1980 and coached two state championship teams at Pine Forest in 1987 and 1988. Pine Forest He was also named a National Champion by USA Today.
He left the Pensacola area for Georgia for several years, then returned to Milton in the 1990s. Madison then returned to Alabama and retired in 2004. That's what people thought.
Madison served as an offensive consultant at Tate in 2009 at the age of 77 and eventually had the Tate High School football field renamed “Carl Madison Field” in his honor in 2021. The stadium will be officially dedicated in his 2022 and boasts a new giant scoreboard. “Madison Field” was announced last season.
“Coach Madison, he was the best,” said Bennett, who coached Madison during his time at Tate High School. “There's a reason the good Lord let Coach Madison live to be 93 years old, and it's because so many people needed him.”
This will be updated with more articles about Coach Madison throughout the day on PNJ.com.
Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at X (@BenGriecoSports) or by email at BGrieco@gannett.com..
