A native of South Carolina, Shealy first played football at Batesburg-Leesville High School and continued playing at Carson-Newman College in Tennessee, where he received All-Tennessee recognition and earned a B.S. in 1960. While at C-N he was in the USMC Reserves in Knoxville, TN; and upon graduation was commissioned as a Lt. in the USMC and played football for the Quantico Marines, which were National Service Champions. They played in the Leatherneck Bowl and the Missile Bowl. He accepted his first coaching position at Laurens (SC) High School in football and track, and earned a Master of Arts degree from George Peabody College/Vanderbilt.

After completing his Master’s degree, Shealy moved from high school to college football and track coaching and served as head coach at Mars Hill College (NC), and Carson-Newman College. While at Carson-Newman, he was named NAIA Coach of the Year in 1971 and 1972 when the Eagles played for the NAIA National Championship, and was inducted into the C-N Hall of Fame in 1986. He served also as Track coach where his teams won back to back Conference Championships and NAIA district Championships and Shealy was named NAIA Track Coach of the Year. He later coached at Baylor University, Tennessee, Auburn and Iowa State, as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Baylor won the Soutwest Conference Championship for the first time in fifty years and played in the Cotton Bowl for the first time.

In 1980, Shealy went to the University of Richmond to reinstate the football program and remained there until he joined the FCA staff. Dal was selected college Coach of the Year in the state of Virginia in 1980, ’84, and ’85, the American Football Coaches Association Kodak Region V Coach of the Year in 1984, the Yankee Conference Coach of the Year in 1987. He had seventeen of his Richmond Spiders drafted or signed as free agents in the NFL. Richmond won the Yankee Conference Championship in 1987.

Dal Shealy was named President and CEO of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (located in Kansas City, MO) in June of 1992. In 2005, he stepped down as president and moved to TN where he is serving as Executive Director of the FCA Football Coaches Ministry, ‘Put the Rule ON!’

He received the William Jewell College Yates Medallion for Distinguished Service, The Order of the Silver Crescent from the State of South Carolina, was a member of the Council for National Policy and served on the Executive Committee for two years, has a Honorary Doctors Degree from The College of the Ozarks, and received the Leadership Award, served as a Trustee of Carson-Newman College for nine years, is Ordained as a Minister. In 2004, he was introduced to Amateur Football. In 2009, Dal was inducted into the Batesburg-Leesville, SC High School Hall of Fame, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Hall of Champions. In 1997, was presented the All American Football Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2003 the FCA Grant Teaff Lifetime Achievement Award.

He is an author, inventor, and national speaker at clinics, banquets, seminars, assemblies, churches and conventions. Dal has written many articles and authored several books, including “One Way 2 Play Drug-Free!” and “One Way 2 Play --- A Game Plan for Coaches.” He and his wife, Barbara, have three grown children, nine grandsons, and two granddaughters. They now live in Jefferson City, TN and are members of First Baptist Church Morristown.

What people have said about Dal Shealy

"Dal Shealy was able to use his leadership that he had developed in the coaching world and apply it to his great faith and his great vision for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes." - Grant Teaff, FCA Trustee Emeritus

"I can't think of anyone who has been able to steer a steadier course than Dal. I think his work as a coach, his knowledge of athletics, his understanding of young people and coaches has been invaluable." - Tom Osborne, U.S. Congressman

"I have never met a man that I have felt more exemplifies the qualities of Jesus Christ, who is more Christ-like than Dal Shealy." - Fisher DeBerry, Head Football Coach, United States Air Force Academy