James Ferman Elmore was born in Pickens County, Alabama on July 22, 1919. Elmore graduated from Pickens County High School in Reform in 1940. He attended The University of Alabama and played on a National Champion freshman football team for the Crimson Tide.

Elmore enlisted in the army when World War II broke out. He served in the artillery and fought in North Africa and Europe.

He returned to Tuscaloosa and finished school on the G.I. Bill. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1948. He later earned his Masters degree from George Peabody College in Nashville.

Elmore arrived at Athens High School in 1948 to assist Coach Hal Self with the Golden Eagle football program. The next year Elmore became the head football coach, a position he would hold for the next eight seasons. During that time Athens football teams won 52 games and lost 22 while tying six.

The 1954 team, which finished with a 9-0-1 record, was runner-up to Bessemer High School in the Birmingham Post-Herald poll. He also earned Coach of the Year honors following the season.

In 1957, Elmore moved to Dothan where his teams had only one losing season in six years. His best team at Dothan was the 1960 squad which finished, 7-2-1, losing only to Robert E. Lee of Montgomery and Bay High School of Panama City, FL. His six years at Dothan produced a 31-22-6 record.

Coach Elmore returned to Athens in time for the 1963 football season. The Golden Eagles had fallen on tough times recently and had struggled through four consecutive losing seasons. He produced three straight winning seasons to get Athens back on track to winning consistently. His three teams finished a combined 16-11-3.

He remained with the Athens program, also serving as assistant principle, for just three seasons before becoming the school principal in 1966. Elmore served for four years, then one year as a vocational guidance counselor.

In 1971 he moved to Butler High School in Huntsville where he was assistant principal and athletic director, a position he held until his retirement in 1978.

During his career he served on the AHSAA District Board from 1959-63. He was president of the state coaches association in 1959-60 and coached the North All-Star football team twice, winning both games.

He was instrumental in the organization of the Tennessee Valley Conference prior to the beginning of the state playoff system. Coach Elmore served one year as president on the Conference. He was a member of the Tennessee Valley Conference Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

Coach Elmores overall coaching record is 99-55-15 in seventeen seasons as a head football coach. Ferman Elmore passed away on June 19, 2000 at the age of 80.