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The best of the best in Alabama High
School Football over the past 100 seasons.
2024 Class 4A Coaching Changes
2024 Head Football Coaching Changes |
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Region 1 Orange Beach - Jamey DuBose Leaves Orange Beach after just two seasons with a 9-11 record. His overall record in Alabama is 146-51 with a trio of state championships at Central Phenix City (2018) and Prattville (2008 & 2011). DuBose accepted a head coaching position at Biloxi MS in December. 2024 Season - Wade Waldrop was not retained as the head football coach at Hoover after just two seasons leading the Bucs program. His two seasons produced a record of 16-9 which was not acceptable under Hoover standards. His career has spanned eighteen seasons at Chelsea, James Clemens and Florence with a record of 116-84 and 7-13 in the playoffs. New facilities being built is always a draw for any new coaching hire. Look for bigger and better things from Orange Beach in the future. Mobile Christian - Ronnie Cottrell retires from the sidelines in Alabama with a record of 138-60 in nineteen seasons as a head football coach in the state. His last team at Mobile Christian captured the Class 3A state championship with a perfect 15-0 record. 2024 Season - Charles Lawson was promoted to the head coaching job at Mobile Christian in January after the retirement of Coach Cottrell. Lawson was the defensive Coordinator for the Leopards during their 2023 state championship run. Lawson graduated from Pascagoula High in 1998 and spent two years playing college football at Southern Mississippi. He arrived in Mobile in 2015 as the linebackers coach before being promoted to the defensive coordinator position in 2021. Region 2 Straughn - Ashley Kilcrease leaves Straughn after just three seasons with a record of 24-10 and three playoff appearances. His last team was his best as the Tigers finished the season with a 10-2 record before losing in the second round of the playoffs. His overall record at Brantley and Straughn stands at 72-26 with 10 playoff victories in eight seasons as a head football coach. 2024 Season - Garrett Windham was first team all-state at Straughn High School prior to his graduation in 2004. He also played football at Chattanooga where he was named Second Team All-SoCon by the leagues coaches his senior season. Windham returns to Straughn as the head football coach after serving as an assistant coach at Andalusia High School. Daleville - Will Garner leaves Daleville after just three seasons with a record of 6-24. Coach Garner accepted a position at Dothan High as an assistant football coach. 2024 Season - Maurice Freeman arrives in Daleville after a great career in Georgia. He has compiled a record of 257-120 at three different schools in Georgia including 196-65 at Brooks County in twenty-one seasons. He led the Trojans to the only two state titles in school history. Between his two stints with the Trojans, he made stops at Southwest Macon from 1998-2001 and Brunswick from 2002-2007. Opp - Matt Brunson leaves Opp after just one season to move back to his former school at Baker, Florida where hsi teams were very successful in the past. His only team in Opp produced a 4-7 record. 2024 Season - Ed Rigby arrives in Opp as a veteran head coach in the area with hopes of reviving the football fortunes of the Bobcats. His overall record in ten seasons stands at 95-39 with eleven playoff appearances for the schools he coached. Rigby won a state championship at nearby Elba in 2015 with a 14-1 record. Region 3 Cleburne County - Joby Burns leaves Cleburne County after five seasons where his teams posted a 16-35 record and one playoff appearance. 2024 Season - Vaughn Lee spent his first seven years of his coaching career at Pleasant Valley, Eufaula High, and Hewitt Trussville before becoming the offensive coordinator and head baseball coach at Cleburne County High School in 1998. Over the next 20 seasons his baseball teams amassed a record of a record of 341-220 winning eight area championships. He spent the last two seasons as the head football coach at nearby Central Middle School in Carrollton, Georgia. St. James - Neal Posey stepped down in February to accept a job as an assistant coach at the collegiate level. Posey joined the St. James coaching staff in 2015 as the running backs, wide receivers and special teams coach. In 2018, he was promoted to offensive coordinator and finally last season got his shot as the head football coach replacing Jimmy Perry. His lone team finished 11-3 falling short of repeating as state champions losing to Mobile Christian in the semi-finals of the playoffs. 2024 Season - Aubrey Blackwell was named the head coach in March as he returns to the Montgomery area sidelines. He served as an assistant coach at St. Paul's Episcopal in 2010 and 2011 and followed Perry to St. James a year later to serve as the offensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014. Blackwell was the head coach at Jackson Academy in Mississippi the past two seasons with a record of 17-9. He built the football program at Catholic Montgomery into a championship team in his six seasons. His teams combined for a 54-19 record including a loss in the state championship game in 2020. Blackwell is a former quarterback at Robert E. Lee in Montgomery so he is very familiar with the area. B.T. Washington - Lawrence ONeal leaves B.T. Washington after turning around a struggling football program in just three short seasons. In those three years his teams set numerous team records for wins in a season with nine in 2023 and winning the first playoff game in school history in 2022. 2024 Season - Deandre Austin comes from Charles Henderson where he served as the offensive coordinator. Austin is an alum of Alabama State. This will be his first head coaching job as he follows Lawrence O'Neal and works to continue the recent success for the Golden Eagles. Region 4 Tallassee - Mike Battles Jr. leaves Tallassee after a dozen seasons with a record of 78-54 and 6-8 in the playoffs. All but three of his teams posted a winning record during his tenure leading the team. His overall record is an impressive 195-109 in 27 seasons as a head football coach at Oak Grove, Bibb County and Tallassee. His best teams were at Bibb County where the Choctaws went 46-6 in four seasons and 8-4 in the playoffs. 2024 Season - Lawrence ONeal arrives in Tallassee after turning around a struggling football program in just three short seasons in Tuskegee at B.T. Washington. In those three years his teams set numerous team records for wins in a season with nine in 2023 and winning the first playoff game in school history in 2022. This could be one of the best hires this off season for the Tigers. Talladega - William F. Smith could not find the winning formula at Talladega and will not return next season. His two years with the program produced an 0-20 record at a school not known for winning many football games the past thirty years. Coach Smith had been successful in stints at Shades Valley and Munford previously. This will be the ninth new hire in the past twenty years for Talladega. 2024 Season - Damien Dorsey takes over the football program at Talladega to start the 2024 season. He has two years experience as a head coach at Talladega County Central in 2012-2013 where his two teams finished a combined 9-12. West Blocton - DreMail King resigned in March after leading the Tigers to back-to-back 6-5 records the past two seasons. 2024 Season - Chris Wilson comes to West Blocton with eight years of experience as a head football coach at three different schools. Wilson began his coaching career at Washington County (2010-14), then Straughn (2015-16) before spending one season at Mary Montgomery (2017). His overall record stands at 65-35 over the course of his career. This past season he served as an assistant coach at Hoover. Region 5 Cordova - Shane Smothers is a veteran coach having been at six different schools over his 14 year career. His stint at Cordova lasted just three seasons as his teams finished with a combined record of 10-20 and never qualified for the playoffs. His overall record in 14 seasons as a head coach stands at 72-79 and 5-6 in the playoffs. The Blue Devils are not accustomed to losing but have not put together a winning season since 2016 and have not won a playoff game since the 2016 football season. 2024 Season - Brian Maner returns to Cordova for the third time. He was the head coach there between 1993-95 and 1997-1999. His 1995 squad captured the 3A state championship. His overall record in a dozen seasons as a head coach stands at 63-68 with stints at Cordova, Thompson and Buckhorn. Region 6 Etowah - Matt Glover leaves Etowah after just one complete season and coaching just two games into the 2023 season. Blake Bone took over for him after the first two games and finished the season out for the Blue Devils. His record at Etowah ended with at 8-6. In 15 years as a head football coach his record stands at 84-74 with stops at Moody (2006-08), Pinson Valley (2009-2016) and St. Clair County (2017-18). His overall record is 84-74 during his career. 2024 Season - Scott Peavey arrives at Etowah after spending the last seven seasons as the head football coach at Haralson County in Georgia. His teams finished a combined 40-34. Before moving to Georgia he was the head coach at Walter Wellborn (1999-2001), Haralson County GA (2002-2004) Ashville (2005) and Madison County (2009-2015). In twenty-one seasons as a head football coach he has an overall record of 112-115. Region 8 Madison County - Matt Putnam after just three seasons at the helm in Madison County leaves with a record of 11-21. Two of his squads managed to reach the playoffs but none posted a winning record. His overall record in 14 seasons as a head football coach stands at 75-75 and 3-7 in the playoffs. He was previously the head coach at Hazel Green for five seasons and another six at Sylvania before arriving at Hazel Green in 2021. 2024 Season - Chris Hancock spent the past six seasons as the defensive coordinator at Huntsville and previously coached at Buckhorn, Sparkman, and Columbia. St. John Paul II - Chad OMelia served as the head coach at St. John Paul II for only one season and his team finished last season with a 4-6 record. 2024 Season - Kevin Creehan will be the fifth Falcons head coach in five seasons. His hope is to first bring some stability to the coaching staff before embarking on building a football program for the Falcon fans. He comes from a coaching family and has coached for seven seasons at the collegiate level. He served last season as an assistant coach for the Falcons. New Hope - Tyler Johnson spent the past two seasons at New Hope and led the Indians to back-to-back 4-6 seasons. 2024 Season - Michael Harper was the Whitesburg Christian head coach for the 2020 season and most recently served as the offensive coordinator at Hazel Green in 2023. D.A.R. - Kyle Davis leaves D.A.R. for Florala after just one season where his team finished the 2023 football season with an 0-10 record. 2024 Season - Matt Putnam | |
David Parker
AHSFHS.org
dparker@ahsfhs.org
Great Moments in Alabama High School Football History
Morris Higginbotham coached three different teams to divisional state championships in the 1950s. He won titles at Walnut Grove in 1952, West Blocton in 1955 and Enterprise in 1960.
Morris Higginbotham coached three different teams to divisional state championships in the 1950s. He won titles at Walnut Grove in 1952, West Blocton in 1955 and Enterprise in 1960.
