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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: Sixteen Best Hire: Aubrey Blackwell, St. James Hardest to Replace: Lawrence O'Neal, B.T. Washington Best Job: St. James Toughest Job: Talladega |
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Most Interesting: | |||||||
| Several interesting coaching changes
in 4A led by the hiring of Lawrence O'Neal at Tallassee. All O'Neal did was
take the Golden Eagles to the semi-finals last season before losing to
Catholic. In just three seasons he turned the football program at B.T. Washington
into a winner. Maurice Freeman moves over from Georgia and brings with him 257 victories and a couple of state championships as he works to rebuild the program at Daleville. It will interesting to see what Aubrey Blackwell does at St. James upon his return to the Montgomery area in 2024. So many of the new hires in 4A have little to no head coaching experience at any level which is unique to this classification this season. A lot of new faces on the sidelines in 4A this football season. Of the sixteen changes only five teams won more games than they lost last year. | |||||||
| 2024 Coaching Changes | |||||
| Class 4A saw the most
new hires during the off season as sixteen schools will have a different
head coach as the season approaches. All but five of
the incoming coaches have head football coaching experience.
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| Team | 2023 Season | 2024 Season | |||
 | B.T. Washington (9-5) | Lawrence ONeal | Deandre Austin | ||
 | Cleburne County (4-7) | Joby Burns | Vaughn Lee | ||
 | Cordova (2-8) | Shane Smothers | Brian Maner | ||
 | D.A.R. (0-10) | Kyle Davis | Matt Putnam | ||
 | Daleville (3-7) | Will Garner | Maurice Freeman | ||
 | Etowah (3-8) | Matt Glover2/Blake Bone | Scott Peavey | ||
 | Madison County (2-8) | Matt Putnam | Chris Hancock | ||
 | Mobile Christian (15-0) | Ronnie Cottrell | Charles Lawson | ||
 | New Hope (4-6) | Tyler Johnson | Michael Harper | ||
 | Opp (4-7) | Matt Brunson | Ed Rigby | ||
 | Orange Beach (1-8) | Jamey DuBose | Wade Waldrop | ||
 | St. James (11-3) | Neal Posey | Aubrey Blackwell | ||
 | St. John Paul II (4-6) | Chad OMelia | Kevin Creehan | ||
 | Straughn (10-2) | Ashley Kilcrease | Garrett Windham | ||
 | Talladega (0-10) | William F. Smith | Damien Dorsey | ||
 | Tallassee (1-9) | Mike Battles Jr. | Lawrence ONeal | ||
 | West Blocton (6-5) | DreMail King | Chris Wilson | ||
| Most Victories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dale Pruitt at Plainview leads all 4A coaches with
282 victories in the state of Alabama and 314 total wins. His Bears are always a tough
opponent for any team on a Friday night. Three other head coaches top
the 200 win list and nine are over the 100 win mark. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Most Playoff Victories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class 4A has the most coaches with at least 30
playoff wins at three. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Longest Tenure at Current School | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coach
Michael Robertson at Hokes Bluff and Dale Pruitt at Plainview are the
longest tenured coach at their current schools in 4A as they begin their
twenty-ninth seasons. Of course Coach Pruitt in on his third stint as
the head coach at Plainview. The average tenure of all the 4A coaches is 4.6 years. Only two coaches have been with their current school more than fourteen seasons. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 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. Only
two other schools has had more changes than Daleville and Bullock County in any
classification. The fourteen coaching changes trails only
J.F. Shields and Dallas County for the most. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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David Parker
AHSFHS.org
dparker@ahsfhs.org
Great Moments in Alabama High School Football History
The Hazlewood Golden Bears have won 11 state titles. The most of any team in any classification since the playoffs began in 1966.
The Hazlewood Golden Bears have won 11 state titles. The most of any team in any classification since the playoffs began in 1966.
