Fred Henley, a Picayune native, had two stops at Pearl River Community College. In high school, he played three years for Holden when Holden was the Picayune High School coach. He was drafted on Oct. 7, 1943, and joined the Marine Corps.
The draft board, by request of Coach Holden and others, granted him a draft extension to remain in Picayune to play in the state championship game against Philadelphia High. Two days after the championship game, he was on a train to San Diego to enter boot camp.
From 1946-48, he played halfback at PRCC under Coach James Wade.
"I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at the time," said Henley. "Calvin Triplett and I got out of service in December 1945. We both went to USM together, went out for spring practice. During the summer they were starting two-a-days. On the way, Calvin said let’s stop off at Pearl River. They were working out there, too. Next thing I knew I was in uniform working out for them. 
When Coach (Pie) Vann called from USM, I told him I had made up my mind to stay at Pearl River."
As a Wildcat, Henley played halfback on offense and defense. In 1948, he was named "Most Outstanding Athlete at Pearl River Junior College." He also met his wife, Velma Evonne, a Poplarville native, at PRCC.
"We had some material on those teams you would not believe," he said. "They were all service men coming back. They had a lot of ability."
After transferring to USM and getting his degree, he returned to Pearl River as Holden’s assistant coach for two years.
"It was just Dobie and me," said Henley. "He was something else to work for. He was one of the greatest coaches I’ve ever seen. He could have gone anywhere. LSU wanted him to go there as an assistant, but he didn’t want to be an assistant. He wanted the head job.                                                 "He had a great attitude working with players on and off the field. He talked football all the time. When we weren’t in class, we watched films, talked football, sometimes till 1-2 o’clock in the morning. I learned things from him as a high school player (at Picayune) that college coaches did not know."
Henley went on to serve as athletic director and head football coach at Forrest County AHS from 1952-63. The football field at Brooklyn is named "The Fred E. Henley Field." He returned to Picayune as head football coach. He later got into administration and served as superintendent of the Picayune School District for 10 years before retiring.