A. L. “John” Treadway, born in 1906, began his athletic career at Happy Valley High School in Carter County, where he lettered in basketball and baseball. No doubt he also would have starred in football, but Happy Valley did not have a team in those days! In 1927 Treadway entered what is now known as East Tennessee State University and lettered in football and baseball. After graduation he began teaching and coaching at his alma mater, Happy Valley High School. While teaching full time, Treadway would compile an amazing record of 403 wins and 111 losses during his nineteen years of coaching football, basketball, and baseball at Happy Valley. His 1950 basketball team won the state championship. That next fall, Treadway went to Elizabethton High School, where he coached football until 1956 and served as athletic director. Between 1951 and 1954 his football teams excelled and appeared in four consecutive bowl games. Treadway spent a total of twenty-three years at Elizabethton High, and his remarkable career totals came to 843 wins to just 372 defeats. His Elizabethton teams appeared in the state tournament seven times, winning the 1949-1950 meet. Overall at Elizabethton, Treadway’s squads won four regional crowns and eleven district titles. In honor of his legendary career, the gym at the new Elizabethton High School was named the “A. L. John Treadway Gym”.
