Belue brings experience, energy to track program
RUSSELLVILLE — Deion Belue did not originally plan to be a track athlete.
“Track was not a focus of mine at first. My spring sport was baseball,” Belue said. “I did not decide to run until my 10th grade coach, Patrick Smith, who was the athletic director at Deshler, asked me if I would be interested in trying it.
“Because of the relationship we had, I gave it a try, and it turned into something bigger, with state championships, top three finishes at state and Division I track offers. I know the opportunities track can bring for athletes across the board.”
The experience shaped a career that has since taken Belue from local fields to college stadiums and professional locker rooms and back into the classroom.
Belue is the new head indoor and outdoor track coach at Russellville High School and also serves as a physical education teacher.
A 2010 graduate of Deshler High School, Belue is now in his ninth year of coaching at the high school level.
He was inducted into the Colbert County Sports Hall of Fame in 2025.
He stepped into the head coaching role this season after previously serving as an assistant track coach. His coaching career includes stops at Deshler High School and Sheffield High School before coming to Russellville, where he has been coaching for the past two years.
At Deshler, Belue served as boys track head coach and worked with the football, basketball and baseball programs.
At Sheffield, he coached football and track and also served as strength and conditioning coach, defensive coordinator and softball head coach.
Before moving into coaching, Belue had a lengthy athletic career of his own. He was a multisport athlete at Deshler High School and earned All-State honors in football and track.
He later competed at Northeast Mississippi Community College, where he was an NJCAA All-American, and at the University of Alabama, where he was part of a national championship team and earned All-SEC and SEC Academic honors.
Belue also spent time at the professional level, including stints with NFL teams and in the
