Belfry High School (Belfry, Kentucky)

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Belfry High School is a public high school in Belfry, Kentucky, in the Pike County School District. It was established in 1923 and sits in a rural area about 22 miles northeast of Pikeville and 1 mile south of Williamson, West Virginia. In 2005 the school moved to a larger building in Goody, Kentucky, about 3 miles north near the West Virginia border; the old building became Belfry Middle School. The campus has a main building and an athletic complex, and a Freshman Academy operated from 2006 to 2011. The school colors are red and white, and the mascot is the Pirates. Belfry High serves grades 9–12 with about 477 students and a student–teacher ratio of about 16:1. Its feeder schools are Belfry Middle School, Belfry Elementary School, and Bevins Grade School. The Pirates compete in 13 KHSAA sports.

Belfry is best known for its football program. The team has won eight state championships and appeared in many finals. Under long-time coach Phillip Haywood, Belfry built a tradition of success, including state titles in 2003 and 2004 (2A), and a famous run of titles from 2013 to 2016 (3A) with a 4‑peat mindset. They also won championships in 2019 and 2021. In 2013, Haywood was named USA Today National Coach of the Year. In 2021, fullback Isaac Dixon was named Kentucky Mr. Football—the first Pirate to win the honor. Coach Haywood is Kentucky’s all-time winningest high school football coach and is among the top five nationally among active coaches.