Oren Prentice "Piggy" Mitchell was born in 1900 in Bibb County, Alabama. Mitchell graduated from Simpson High School in Birmingham in 1919 and he got his degree from Valparaiso University, Alabama.

His first head coaching job came in 1928 at Bankhead High School in Cordova where he stayed for three seasons.

It is believed he coached at Valley Head, possibly in 1931-33, but records are incomplete at this time.

In 1934 he took over at Shades Cahaba (Shades Valley) for the next seventeen seasons. His teams combined for a 100-47-6. All but two of his teams finished with winning records and five squads finished with only one loss.

In 1951 he moved over to Hewitt-Trussville as the head football coach. His fourteen years with the Huskies produced a 61-55-7 record. Following the 1963 season Mitchell retired from the football field with a record of 168-109-14 over 33 seasons as a head coach.

He was ahead of his time in many aspects of high school athletics. He brought basketball to the county schools that didnt have gyms by starting the dirt court leagues. He introduced wrestling to the county schools and he brought the T-formation offense to the high schools in Birmingham.

He also loved baseball. Mitchell was the founder of the Jefferson County baseball league and was its president from 1935-65. He also le Shades Cahaba to three Jefferson County Championships.

Coach Mitchell served as president of the AHSAA Fifth District Board for 25 years. He was inducted into the Alabama High School Athletic Associations Hall of Fame in 1996.