2023 MDCC Hall of Fame Jimmy Bellipanni Award Recipient - Guy Hall

The 32 miles from Greenville to Moorhead seemed like a long journey back in the 1960s. For Guy Hall, that journey was the beginning of a career that was capped with his being named the 2023 MDCC Hall of Fame Jimmy Bellipanni Recipient. 

Hall played on the 1966 and 1967 Trojan football teams for Head Coach Jim Randall.

“He was a character to say the least. My biggest regret is not keeping a diary or journal as they call it these days when I was there. People wouldn’t believe the things the coaching staff did,” he said. “My sophomore year, the athletes we had two or three pretty good ones and the load was shared by about 20 players. We were overachievers. Most of the folks we played against were bigger and faster than us. We came within 15 points of winning everything.”

On the field, Hall switched positions but found a home at wingback on offense his sophomore season. He made Honorable Mention All-State. His playing career ended after his time at Moorhead.

“When your 155 pounds and slow too, you’re not much in demand. And that’s a lot of what our whole team was,” he said.

But the players persevered and became close friends while battling together on and off the field.

“Coach Randall liked us and all of us that played over there that are still living are all best friends. The players are all close friends. We stay in touch and we have a little dinner every year at Vito’s Marketplace in Leland. It’s about a three-hour get-together,” Hall said.

Coming from Greenville High School that had a 1,200-plus student population just in three grades was a bit of a shock for Hall. But he noted the time spent at MDJC was a blessing.

“It was a little bit of a culture shock. We had 1,200 people easy and when I got over to Moorhead, there was maybe 500 students. But I enjoyed it. It was a great place and there were some really good people there and it brought me out socially. We were kind of snobbish coming out of Greenville but getting to know all these people from small towns was good for me,” he said.

The former wingback has made a career in his native Greenville in the transmission business. He also started a side gig that put him back on the field and in front of his former coach and other Trojan coaches – as a JUCO referee.

“I officiated and refereed in that league and Division II and III for 38 years,” he said. “I got a whole lot of stories I can tell starting with Coach Randall and then Wookie Gray and Jay Miller and Jay Southward, Jeff Tatum and even Todd Lott.”

Hall was a “student at Delta State” and graduated with a Business Degree after his time at Moorhead. He then opened up a transmission shop in Greenville where he’s been in business for decades.

“I always wanted to be a mechanic and got hooked up with a guy from California who was the original founder of HERA. He decided he was going to teach 300 people around the country how to fix transmissions. I was lucky enough to be one of them,” Hall said.

In reflecting upon the award, Hall humbly notes there were more talented football players and probably bigger supporters of MDCC. But he was honored none the same to be the 2023 MDCC Hall of Fame Jimmy Bellipanni Award Recipient.