Head Coach
HOF Class: 2021
Ralph Paden Sr. worked as a Physical Education Teacher with Prince George’s County Schools, working with young people and making an impact in the community. Ralph was known for being a physical education teacher and outstanding high school football coach at Fairmont Heights High School. He achieved many accolades during his coaching career including being named League Coach of the Year three different times and going to four county championships.
Paden’s teams won 177 games – many accomplished by rosters with fewer than 30 players, an achievement the Maryland High School Football Foundation says ranks among the state’s top coaching achievements.
Winning 62 percent of his games earned him induction in the state football coaches association’s Hall of Fame in 2003 along with Doug Fleetwood of Cambridge-South Dorchester, and Morgan Wootten of DeMatha in Hyattsville. (Wootten was a successful football coach in the 1960s before focusing exclusively on basketball.)
Fairmont Heights decided a November 2018 home playoff game was an ideal time to salute “Coach Paden.” A rainy night did not deter former players from attending the stadium renaming ceremony.
