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   The best of the best in Alabama High   
  School Football over the past 100 seasons.





Active Winning Coaches

(Updated 9/10/2019)

    
          In this day and age of "what have you done for me lately" high school football coaches are most often judged on wins and loses when in reality they accomplish much more during their careers.

          We receive emails weekly from former players that more often than not look upon their former coaches as mentors, teachers and father figures. Many of the most successful coaches in Alabama teach much more than football to their players.

  
Coach Josh Niblett
          Yet when it comes to the fans they are quick to jump on any bandwagon when their team falls short of expectations during the season. In the end all that seems to matter are the wins and losses.

          To that end we have put together a list of the football coaches in the state with the highest winning percentages during their head coaching careers. The criteria is simple. A coach must be active in 2019 and have at least 100 wins. All these football coaches on our list have one thing in common. All have been to a state championship game in the past few seasons.


         10.   Danny Horn
  High School: Clay County
  College: Jacksonville State
  Record: 301-86  77.8%
          Coach Danny Horn became the head coach at Clay County in 1989 where he would remain for the next twenty seasons. His record at Clay County was 225-40. All but one of his teams qualified for the playoffs and won a total of six state championships. Between 1994-97 the Panthers won fifty-five consecutive games which is the longest streak in state history.

          His 1996 team produced a state record eleven shutouts while the 1994 team came up with ten shutouts on defense. Prior to his arrival at Clay County, the Panthers had won ten games in only two seasons during their long history. During his tenure they would win ten games a total of thirteen seasons.

          Following the 2008 season Coach Horn would move up to 6A Benjamin Russell where he found the going a little tougher. His first two seasons with the Wildcats produced identical 1-9 records before improving to 7-5 in 2011. His next four teams all won at least 10 games each season. In 2018 he returned to Clay County to coach at Central where his first team won a state championship.


         9.   Terry Curtis
  High School: Murphy
  College: Auburn
  Record: 305-85  78.2%
          Coach Curtis began his head coaching career at Shaw in Mobile in 1989 before moving back to Murphy in 1993. In 199 he would make the move to UMS-Wright where he has found unprecedented success.

          Coach Curtis currently remains as the head coach at U.M.S. and holds a career record of 303-85 over 30 seasons. His playoff record stands at 70-20 and his region record is among the best of all time in the state at 146-21.


         8.   Jamie Riggs
  High School: T.R. Miller
  College: Alabama
  Record: 313-86  78.5%
          Following three seasons at Opp, Coach Riggs came home to T.R. Miller in 1989. During the 1990s his Tigers won 117 games, more than any other team in the state. His team won 27 consecutive games from 1994-95. Every team during his tenure at Miller qualified for the playoffs.

          The Tigers reached the semi-finals of the playoffs in fourteen of his seasons winning four state championships along the way. During his tenure at Miller his teams were shutout just once and hold the state record for consecutive games scoring at 342. Twenty of his twenty-seven teams won at least ten games.


         7.   Josh Niblett
  High School: Demopolis Academy
  College: Alabama (1993-95)
  Record: 205-53  79.5%
          Coach Niblett began his high school football coaching career in 2000 when he was named the head coach at Oneonta. Each of his teams at Oneonta won more games than the previous season culminating in a 3A state championship following the 2004 season. Prior to the 2005 season he would take his talents to Oxford where he was the coach for three seasons.

          Following the resignation of Rush Propst at Hoover in 2008, Josh was named the head coach at perennial football power Hoover. During the past ten seasons his Bucs have gone 126-18 while playing in the Super Six Championship game nine times, winning six championships. 


         6.   Mark Freeman
  High School: Bessemer Academy
  College: Alabama Birmingham
  Record: 200-50  80.0%
          Coach Freeman became the head coach at Bessemer Academy in 1998 at set out immediately in building a dominate program in AISA. During his ten years with the Rebels his teams qualified for the playoffs every season and won four state championships. Between 2001 and 2007 his teams went 40-1 in region play and 17-3 in the playoffs.

          After serving as the quarterbacks coach at Minor during the 2008 season he would take over the reins at 5A Gulf Shores and take the Dolphins to their best record in school history (9-3). In 2011 Coach Freeman moved up the road to Spanish Fort where the Toros won two Class 5A state titles. In 2015 he moved back north to take over the program at Thompson.


         5.  Laron White
  High School: Courtland
  College: Alabama (1993-96)
  Record: 161-40  80.1%
          Coach White of Tanner leads the way with a winning percentage of 84.3% in his short eleven year career at Tanner high school. Coach White, the son of long time Courtland coach Louis White, led his team to the 2A state championship in 2012 and pulled off the repeat the next season. His teams qualified for the playoffs in each season and won a minimum of seven games.

          Tanner won 61 consecutive region games during his tenure at the school. They also had a thirty-eight game home winning streak. In 2017 he took his talents to Sparkman High School.


         4.   Brent Hubbert
  High School: Lanett
  College: Jacksonville State
  Record: 185-41  81.9%
          In 2001, Brent Hubbert became the head football coach and athletic director at Jemison High School where he stayed for three seasons with a 17-15 record and two playoff spots. Following the 2003 football season he moved Maplesville.

          During his time as the head football coach at Maplesville all his teams qualified for the playoffs and ten won region titles. His region record stands at 105-15 which ranks as one of the best in the state. In 2019 he moved south to take the job at T.R. Miller in Brewton.


         3.   Bobby Carr
  High School:
  College:
  Record: 226-45  83.0%
          Coach Carr became the head football coach at Edgewood Academy in 2001. Over the next 15 seasons his teams reeled off a record of 167-29 including 76-4 in the past six seasons. His Wildcats have also won five of the past six AISA-AA state championships with a playoff record of 17-1.

          The Wildcats won 71 consecutive games from 2010-2015, the longest in the state. The Wildcats also set an AISA state record by scoring a total of 751 points in 2014.  He also coaches the Edgewood baseball team in his spare time. His baseball teams have won 11 state championships.

          After one season as an assistant coach he became the head coach at Autauga Academy where his second team once again claimed a AISA state championship in 2018.


         2.   Mitchell Tuberville
  High School: Monroe Academy
  College:
  Record: 137-28  83.0%
          Coach Tuberville would become the head football coach at Monroe Academy in 2006.

          Over the past thirteen seasons his teams have gone 136-26 and 22-7 in the playoffs. The 2009, 2013, 2917 and 2018 teams won State Championships in the AISA. Over the past 11 seasons his teams have won ten region titles and finished second the other year finishing with an overall region record of 60-1 during that time.


         1.   Paul Benefield
  High School: Fyffe
  College: Jacksonville State
  Record: 284-53  84.3%
          Coach Benefield won his 200th game as a head coach in 2012 at Fyffe and Sylvania. He took over the head coaching job at Sylvania in 1992 and proceeded to lead the Rams to back to back 12-1 seasons in 1994 and 1995. The twelve wins were the most in school history and were also the first 10-0 regular seasons since Sylvania began playing football in 1947.

          After five season at Sylvania and a 45-11 record Coach Benefield returned home to Fyffe as their head coach in 1997. Since then his teams have qualified for the playoffs in every season except 2000, won fourteen region championships and won at least ten games in fifteen of those years. He also has the distinction of never coaching a team with a losing record during his twenty-eight seasons. The Red Devils have also laid claim to three state titles during his tenure as head coach.



Coaches Team Games Won Lost Pct.
Paul Benefield Fyffe 327 284 53 84.3%
Mitchell Tuberville Monroe Academy 165 137 28 83.0%
Bobby Carr Autauga Academy 261 216 45 82.8%
Brent Hubbert T.R. Miller 226 185 41 81.9%
Laron White Sparkman 201 161 40 80.1%
Mark Freeman Spanish Fort 250 200 50 80.0%
Josh Niblett Hoover 258 205 53 79.5%
Jamie Riggs Houston Academy 399 313 86 78.5%
Terry Curtis UMS-Wright 390 305 85 78.2%
Danny Horn Benjamin Russell 387 301 86 77.8%


David Parker
  AHSFHS.org
  dparker@ahsfhs.org






Great Moments in Alabama High School Football History

Luverne 'Toad' Wise was the first female football player in Alabama and may have been the first in the country. She was a kicker for the Escambia County Blue Devils in 1939-40.