Funeral arrangements for Philip Haywood announced

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW)- A visitation and funeral service for late Belfry High School head football coach Philip Haywood are happening this weekend.

The visitation will be held in the Belfry High School auditorium from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday

Haywood’s funeral will take place in the high school’s gymnasium on Sunday at noon.

Tributes to the winningest head coach in KHSAA football history flooded in from around the Commonwealth after word of his passing spread on Wednesday.

“I just heard about the passing of longtime Belfry football coach Philip Haywood and my thoughts and prayers go out to all who knew him. He was a legendary coach and a great man,” said University of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops on social media.

“While the history books will write about the 491-162 (record) on Friday nights from 1975 to 2024, the real history is be told in the lives of the people he coached, mentored and was like a father to for so many years,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett in a statement. “His legacy is far more than 491 wins.”

Haywood passed away at the University of Kentucky Medical Center after a single car accident over the weekend which left him seriously injured.

As head coach of the Pirates, Haywood guided them to 14 state title games winning eight of them.

His 50 year career as a coach started in Lexington in 1972, when he was an assistant coach for Roy Walton at Tates Creek.