After the war, the 6-4 Daniel was contacted by Coach Adolph Rupp with Kentucky about playing for the Wildcats. The friend he had made in Europe asked Coach Rupp to check out the young basketball player from Selma.
Daniel made the trip to Lexington and played for the Wildcats his freshman year. While he was home during the summer of 1947 Selma basketball coach, Comer Sims, called him about coaching at nearby Pine Hill High School. He accepted the position and the rest is history.
Daniel coached at Pine Hill while getting his degree at Livingston University. His first team at Pine Hill finished 1-9 but they improved in each of the next four seasons until the team finished 10-0 in 1951. The team was named State Champions by the Birmingham News for their efforts.
In 1955, after 8 seasons at Pine Hill, Luverne came calling. Daniel would accept the head coaching job where he stayed for the next 38 years until his retirement following the 1992 season. His last ten teams at Luverne qualified for the state playoffs and his 1991 team rewarded him with his only playoff state title by defeating Plainview 21-7.
Daniel would retire from head coaching in 1992 but not from football. He remained around the program to assist Coach Butch Norman where they won another state championship in 1997 with a 42-0 win over Sand Rock.
Coach Daniel retired as the winningest high school coach in state history with a record of 295-171-15 in 46 years as a head coach.
The stadium at Luverne is named in his honor. He was named Coach of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers in 1987, 1989 and 1991. He was inducted into the Alabama High School Athletic Associations Hall of Fame in 1991. Coach Daniel is also a member of the National High School Sports Hall of Fame.
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