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The best of the best in Alabama High
School Football over the past 100 seasons.
2024 Football Coaching Changes
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New Hires: Fourteen Best Hire: Phil Lazenby, Bayshore Christian Hardest to Replace: Will Pouncey, Highland Home Best Job: Highland Home Toughest Job: Central Coosa |
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| Most Interesting: The most interesting coaching changes have to be at Highland Home and Loachapoka. Both football programs have found success the past few seasons but will be under new leadership when the season opens in late August. Both schools also turned to young coaches with no prior experience as a head football coach. | |||||||
| 2024 Coaching Changes | |||||
| Class 2A saw the second most
coaching changes percentage wise as fourteen schools will have new
leadership as the 2023 football season begins. Nine of the new hires
have no head coaching experience. That is more than any other
classification. | |||||
| Team | 2023 Season | 2024 Season | |||
 | Aliceville (5-6) | Grady Griffin | Anthony Sawyer | ||
 | Central Coosa (3-7) | Shundell Russaw | Daniel Flowers | ||
 | Central Hayneville (2-7) | Corvin Johnson | Jul Little | ||
 | Chickasaw (5-6) | Carl Herring | Dedrick Sumpter | ||
 | Decatur Heritage Christian (3-7) | Aairon Savage | Nikita Stover | ||
 | Gaston (3-8) | Chad Eads | Derrick Sewell | ||
| Gaston (2-8) | Alan Beckett | Derrick Sewell | ||
 | Geneva County (0-10) | Josh Thompson | Al Gilmore | ||
 | Highland Home (10-2) | Will Pouncey | Justin Bragg | ||
| Highland Home (10-2) | Will Pouncey | Justin Bragg | ||
 | Houston County (5-5) | Jake Allen | Tanner Harris | ||
 | Lanett (4-6) | Chip Seagle | R.J. McDonald | ||
| Lanett (4-6) | Chip Seagle | R.J. McDonald | ||
 | Loachapoka (10-1) | Frederick Newton | Branden Hall | ||
| Loachapoka (10-1) | Frederick Newton | Branden Hall | ||
 | Luverne (7-4) | Ed Rigby | Bobby Hudson | ||
 | North Sand Mountain (5-6) | Keith Kirby | Jay Lipscomb | ||
| North Sand Mountain (5-6) | Keith Kirby | Jay Lipscomb | ||
 | Prattville (3-7) | Jason Wallace | Jonathan Nix | ||
 | Selma (2-8) | Leon Day | Riley Edwards | ||
 | St. Lukes (6-5) | Ronn Lee | Joe Gilmore | ||
 | Tanner (8-4) | Oscar Bonds | Matt Smith | ||
 | West End Walnut Grove (5-6) | Derrick Sewell | Matt Harris | ||
| West End Walnut Grove (5-6) | Derrick Sewell | Matt Harris | ||
| Most Victories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach Phil Lazenby will lead the Bayshore Christian
team into their inaugural season of varsity football this fall. He leads the list of 2A coaches
with 200 victories in twenty-six seasons. Josh Wright and Steven Kilcrease who
both have over 100
victories during their coaching careers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Most Playoff Victories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Newcomer to the AHSAA Josh
Wright has his program at Tuscaloosa Academy very competitive after moving
from the AISA a couple of seasons ago. His team has a ton of talented
players this season and will make even more noise in 2A before the 2024
football season is over. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Longest Tenure at Current School | |||
| In fifteen seasons at J.U. Blacksher, Coach
Wesley Sims has
led his teams in Uriah. While the Bulldogs may not be a 2A powerhouse they
have been consistently in the playoffs over the past ten seasons.
Kenny Smith at Providence Christian and Jonathan Nix are also somewhat of
a surprise on the list at second and third. The average tenure of all the 2A coaches is 4.0 years. That is a huge drop from the 4.9 posted prior to last season. It is tied with 7A for the second shortest behind 6A. | |||
| 15 - Wesley Sims, J.U. Blacksher | |||
| 13 - Kenny Smith, Providence Christian | |||
| 10 - Jonathan Nix, Pleasant Valley | |||
| 9 - Steven Kilcrease, Ariton | |||
| 9 - Tate Leonard, Isabella | |||
| 9 - Stephen Bailey, Ranburne | |||
| 9 - Matt Johnson, Reeltown | |||
| 8 - Robert Bradford, Lamar County | |||
| 7 - Edwin Starr, Calhoun | |||
| 7 - Luke Pruitt, Pisgah | |||
| 7 - Jason Wambles, Samson | |||
| 7 - Kevin Byrd, Southeastern | |||
| 7 - Lucas Weatherford, Vincent | |||
| Coaching Turnover 2000-2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The lack of success in most football programs often
leads to a change in the head coach.
These schools have had the most head coaching changes over the past
24 years.
We all know about the most recent success at Coosa Christian but they top this list having gone through fourteen different head coaches the past twenty-four seasons before Mark O'Bryant arrived in 2020. Aliceville has to be the surprise in 2A. The Yellow Jackets have had only four losing seasons during this time but have made a dozen coaching changes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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David Parker
AHSFHS.org
dparker@ahsfhs.org
Great Moments in Alabama High School Football History
The Tuscaloosa Black Bears were considered one of the best programs in the nation from 1925-1931. Their record over that span was an amazing 61-0-3.
The Tuscaloosa Black Bears were considered one of the best programs in the nation from 1925-1931. Their record over that span was an amazing 61-0-3.
