Dale Cook lettered five years while playing football for Cullman High School from 1953 to 1957. He is still listed as the record-holder for most varsity letters for the Bearcats with 12 while also playing baseball and basketball. Cook played two years for Alabama in Bear Bryants first season before transferring to Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Cooks first head coaching assignment came in 1968 when he accepted the job at Fort Payne High School. Over the next two seasons his teams finished a disappointing 2-17-1. He resurfaced as the head football coach at Ramsay High School in Birmingham in 1971 for three seasons.

He took over the program at Gardendale for the 1983 season and took the team to an undefeated regular season before losing in the state playoffs. The Rockets finished the year with an 11-1 record.

In 1984, Coach Cook accepted the head coaching position at Cullman High School where he remained for the next nine seasons. His 1985 team went 10-1. Following the 1992 season he retired from coaching for a year.

Cook came out of his brief retirement to take over the Corner football program in 1994. For the next six years he led the Corner football team before stepping down for health concerns after the 1999 season.

He then joined longtime friend and former assistant Dafford Smith at St. Bernard High School. Cook coached the Saints defense while battling cancer. Coach Cook made a full recovery from open-heart surgery but remained committed to retirement after 36 years in high school football.

Coach Cooks football record is 113-106-1 in 21 years as a head coach. He passed away in November, 2005 after battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma.