Lee Campbell was born in Macon, Georgia in 1967, the son of Billy and Judy Campbell. The Campbell family moved to Hawkinsville prior to Lee's third grade year in school. His parents divorced and his mother re-married Reuben Shedd.  Lee gained a sister when the Shedd's daughter Denisa was born.  Lee's younger brother, Chad, two years his junior, and he grew up playing in the Recreation Department leagues and both became football and baseball stars for the Hawkinsville High Red Devils. Lee was a starter in both sports during all four years from 1981-1985. He was a back-up quarterback and starter at wide receiver and defensive back as a freshman and was the starting quarterback his last three years. He was both the team captain and Most Valuable Player his senior year. He played shortstop and pitched for the baseball team and was also team captain his senior year. Denisa would grow up to be a Red Devil cheerleader and Diamond Devil Girl during Lee’s tenure as an assistant coach at Hawkinsville High. His dad, Billy, served as a team statistician during Chad’s and Lee’s high school days and also returned in the same roll when Lee became the head coach.

Lee signed to play football with West Georgia College and later obtained a degree in Electronics from Middle Georgia Tech in 1987. He also joined the Georgia Army National Guard that year and was later called to active duty during Desert Storm in 1990. He received an Honorable Discharge in 1993. Even though he had obtained the electronics degree, Lee wanted to be a coach and returned to school. He graduated from Middle Georgia College in 1989 and from Georgia Southwestern in 1991 with a degree in History Education. He returned to Hawkinsville High as an assistant coach in football from 1991-1994 and as an assistant in baseball from 1991-1993. He served as head baseball coach in 1994, a year in which the team won the Region 1 Championship and he was named the Coach of the Year in the region.

From 1994-1996 Lee worked as an assistant football coach for his former Red Devil mentor, Jeff Caldwell, in Camden County. He was offensive coordinator for the Wildcats who made the AAAA playoffs each year. In addition, he was head coach of the wrestling team. In the spring of 1996 Lee was named Athletic Director and Head Football Coach at Montgomery County. The Eagle program was in complete disarray with limited equipment, a non-existent weight program, an almost non-existent booster club, and no recreation program for the younger students, among other things. Additionally, the Athletic Department was deeply in debt. When he left three years later, the Eagles had only managed a 1-29 record in football while playing in tough Region 2, along with teams like Charlton County and Clinch County. However, he left the program in good standing financially and, with the addition of both a weight program and a wrestling team, had all sports on the verge of returning to prominence. He gained experience in Mt. Vernon which would prove invaluable when he was called home in 1999 to coach his beloved Red Devils.

Prior to Lee Campbell being named to head the Red Devil program, there had been three different head coaches at Hawkinsville High since 1989. The Devil Nation was searching for both stability and a return to the Gentry “Glory Years” when Lee was hired. The previous ten years had yielded only four play off teams in football, and simply making the play offs each year seemed to be a worthy goal. It’s doubtful that anyone had any idea that, with the young coach at the helm, the Devils not only would make the play offs each year, but would win four  Region Titles and back-to-back State Championships from 1999-2004. During this period, when the Red Devils returned to state-wide prominence, Coach Campbell was named Region 4 Coach of the year 2001-2004, Region 4 Athletic Director of the year 2000-2001, Macon Telegraph Coach of the Year 2003, Atlanta TD Club Class A Coach of the Year 2003, Macon TD Club Coach of the Year 2003, AJC Class A Coach of the Year 2003-2004, AP Class A Coach of the Year 2003-2004, Atlanta TD Club NFL/Atlanta Falcons Georgia High School Coach of the Year 2004 and was named as a coach for the GACA High School All-Star game in 2003.

Through these last few extremely successful years, Coach Campbell has been assisted by an excellent staff, which includes his boyhood friend and high school teammate, Cam Black. Coach Black is recognized around the state as one of the best defensive coordinators in any classification. The most important member of his staff is definitely his wife Alicia, who also coaches the cross country team. Lee married the former Alicia Simmons in 1988 and their daughter Kelsey was born in 1993, followed by son Witt in 1997. Both youngsters can be seen at practice sessions and games wearing their Daddy’s familiar # 10 on their jersey. The lovely Alicia has also served as a cheerleading coach.

Currently, Coach Campbell’s overall record stands at a very respectable 65-42-1 but his Red Devil record of 64-13-1 is the best in the state during this period.

Coach Campbell Named Coach Of The Year For 2004 By Atlanta TD Club!