CHARLOTTE, NC - The National Junior College Athletic Association announced its inaugural class of honorees for the Coaches Legacy Awards. The award recognizes the coaches with the most all-time wins in NJCAA history. All honorees were recognized at a special luncheon on Tuesday, June 17, in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the Hilton Charlotte University Place Hotel preceding the 2025 NJCAA Hall of Fame and Awards ceremony.
Northwest legend Bobby Ray Franklin was recognized posthumously by the association due to his success as the head coach of the Rangers from 1981 - 2004. His son, Ray Franklin, and Northwest president, Dr. Michael J. Heindl, attended the ceremony to receive the award on behalf of the Franklin family and Northwest.
When asked about what the award meant to his family, Ray Franklin stated "We could not be prouder of the Legacy our father and husband has left behind over his career in 26 years of coaching football at NWCC. He truly loved the college, the community, and particularly the NWCC leadership team, assistant coaches, and each and every player he ever had the privilege to coach. The Legacy Award that he had bestowed upon him is such an honor. Way to go Dad!"
"The NJCAA Coaches Legacy Awards are for a truly elite group of coaches nationwide," said Dr. Michael J. Heindl, Northwest president. "It was truly an honor to be able to represent Northwest alongside Coach Franklin's family. Coach Bobby Ray Franklin is an icon to us at Northwest for what he did as a Ranger. We could not be more honored for him to be recognized in this way at the national level by the NJCAA."
This is the first time in the near 90-year history of the NJCAA that coaches have been recognized in such a fashion by the Association. Nearly 200 coaches across 28 different sports were nominated by the member colleges at which they coached. In order to be eligible for the award as a football coach, the nominee must have eclipsed the 200-win mark as a head coach in the NJCAA. Only six football coaches in NJCAA history have reached that mark, and each was recognized in the inaugural class.
"This was a great event put on by the NJCAA to honor the great Bobby Franklin and other coaches that have contributed so much to junior college athletics," said Northwest athletic director Jake Gordon.
In 1981, Franklin was named as the next head football coach at Northwest, and the rest is history. In just his second season as the Rangers' head coach, NWCC went 12-0-1 and captured the 1982 NJCAA Championship with a 16-9 win against Ferrum College in the Eastern Bowl. In 1991, Franklin's team fell in the Coca-Cola Mid-America Bowl to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, only for the Rangers to return the following season, earning the 1992 national title with a 34-0 revenge shutout of the same opponent.
Throughout Franklin's entire tenure as the Rangers' head coach, Northwest never posted a losing season. The Rangers went a combined 202-56-6, winning six MACJC titles (1982, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1999) and 11 MACJC North Division championships (1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2003), with appearances in the 1982 Eastern Bowl, 1986 Roaring Ranger Bowl, the 1987 Jayhawk Bowl, the 1989 Shrine Bowl, the 1991 and 1992 Coca-Cola Mid-America Bowl games and the 1998 Mineral Water Bowl.
Franklin is a member of numerous halls of fame, dating back to his 1988 induction to the Ole Miss M Club Hall of Fame. In 2003, he was inducted into the Northwest Sports Hall of Fame and in 2005, he was chosen for inductions into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and the National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
In 2007, Franklin was enshrined into the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame and three years later, he was inducted into the Mississippi Association of Coaches Hall of Fame. In 2013, he was voted into the Clarksdale/Coahoma County Sports Hall of Fame.
When asked about Coach Franklin's impact on his program, current Northwest head coach Benjy Parker stated "Coach Franklin was always great to me. I appreciate all the support he gave me over the years. I still believe his 1992 team is the greatest JUCO team ever assembled. There is no one more deserving of this honor and I know it is special to his family."
Coach Franklin passed away on May 13, 2025. He was honored with a memorial service at Howard Coliseum on the Senatobia campus before his burial on May 18.
Other MACJC/MACCC coaches recognized by the NJCAA were Bob Weathers (Gulf Coast, men's basketball), George Sekul (Gulf Coast, football), Steve Clements (Meridian, men's soccer), and Andy Lee (Hinds, softball).
