The Days of Gold is a book about Pulaski County’s football program from 1974-2002, from the beginning of the program to the end of Joel Hicks’ days at the helm. The book starts with brief histories about the Dublin Dukes and Pulaski Orioles, the two schools who merged to become PCHS. Those two programs had lots of success in football. Being good at football didn’t start with the Cougars, it had been going on for a while before. The book covers the history of the program from the beginning in 1974 until 2002 when Joel Hicks retired. The book extensively talks about rival schools too and their rivalries with PC such as Salem, Patrick Henry, Cave Spring, William Fleming, Northside, EC Glass and more. It also includes the following:
- process of PCHS coming into being starting back in 1967
- Every game of every season is covered extensively, with stats for all games and seasons
- every score until 2023
- every roster of those years (1974-02)
- all time series marks with opponents
- Special tributes to Lee Cook and Kevin Crouse
- Chapter dedicated to Joel Hicks and his life up to him coming to PC in 1979
- Every single team photo from 1974-2002
- Over 100 pictures, most in color
- Tributes to the Marching Band, the cheerleaders and uniforms through the years, the 63 steps, the Cougar statue that was installed in 2008, Homecoming traditions, the Powder Puff game, Friday Football Extra, the Touchdown Classic, and the Spirit of Autumn
- A final tribute to the life and legacy of Joel Hicks
- Epilogue about the program after Joel Hicks up to 2023
- A list of former Cougar players and coaches that have passed away
- A season-by-season record of Joel Hicks’ career
- every state champion at each level from 1974-2002
The book is a little over 600 pages long and over 100 pictures. Several former players were interviewed as well to get information and personal experiences. It goes in depth for players who had great careers beyond high school like Gary Clark, Todd Grantham, Shayne Graham, Brandon Anderson, Randy Dunnigan and more.
