Wayne Blackwell graduated from Satsuma High School in Mobile County, Alabama. He received his B.S. in History and English from the University of South Alabama and his Masters in School Administration and E.D.S. in School Administration from West Alabama.

His first head coaching job came at Wesleyan Academy in 1970. The next year he moved over to McIntosh Christian Academy near Mobile. He served as the head football coach at McIntosh Christian for six seasons.

In 1977, Blackwell accepted the head coaching position at Jackson Academy where he stayed for eight more years. His 1982 team finished the regular season 10-0-1 before losing in the AISA playoffs the next week.

The 1985 season saw him moving to the AHSAA and Washington County High School in Chatom as the head coach. He remained with the school through the 1990 season before retiring from the football field with an overall record of 145-71-4.

Coach Blackwell was an educator for over 35 years, acting as teacher, coach , assistant principal or principal at various schools in Mobile, Clarke and Washington counties before moving to Chatom Elementary in 1994.

In 2003, as the Chatom Elementary School Principal, Blackwell was presented with the Distinguished Principal Award by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Association of Elementary School Principals. The award is based on how thoroughly an administrator involves the community in the school and on how much he is engaged in the community.

Blackwell is a member of both the Washington County and the St. Stephens historical boards and has produced a library of oral history of the county.

He is the chairman of the museum board and the Washington County Hall of Fame committee and has been an officer in the Shrine Club and the Health Council. He is also a member of the Masonic Lodge and Scottish Rite organization.