2024 Football Coaching Changes
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New Hires: Twelve Best Hire: Lawrence O'Neal, Tallassee Hardest to Replace: John Ritter, Russellville Best Job: Russellville Toughest Job: Jemison |
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Most Interesting: Dustin Goodwin taking over for John
Ritter at Russellville will be interesting to watch over the next few
seasons. While Coach Goodwin may not have the best resume this may be
the first head coaching job where he can showcase his talents. Time
will tell. | |||||||
2024 Coaching Changes | |||||
Of the eleven new hires in
5A only three have previous head football coaching experience. One interesting fact is that
seven of the coaching changes were with schools who posted a winning record
in 2023. Only a single school, Jemison, won less than four games last year. | |||||
Team | 2023 Season | 2024 Season | |||
![]() | Arab (8-3) | Lee Ozmint | Kyle Routon | ||
![]() | Carroll (4-7) | Patrick Plott | Matt Mellown | ||
![]() | East Limestone (3-7) | Clint Woodfin | Will Johnson | ||
![]() | Faith Academy (8-4) | Jack French | Erik Speakman | ||
![]() | Holtville (7-4) | Jason Franklin | Cory Lee | ||
![]() | Jemison (1-9) | John Therrell | Rishard Davis | ||
![]() | Montevallo (7-3) | Blake Boren | Garrett Langer | ||
![]() | Priceville (5-7) | Chris Foster | Seth Parker | ||
![]() | Russellville (9-3) | John Ritter | Dustin Goodwin | ||
![]() | Scottsboro (8-3) | Cris Bell | Tyler Vann | ||
![]() | Vigor (7-3) | Markus Cook | John McKenzie | ||
![]() | West Point (5-6) | Don Farley | Kevin McCravy | ||
Most Victories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class 5A has the distinction of
having three coaches with
over 250 wins in their career. Terry Curtis surpassed Buddy Anderson a
couple of
years ago for the most victories in Alabama. Danny Horn is very close behind with
351 wins in his coaching career and Trent Taylor who is currently at
Andalusia. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Most Playoff Victories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coach Curtis also has the
most playoff victories of any coach in the state with 81 but once again he
has Coach Horn close on his heels with 75. Those two are tops in the state
all-time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Longest Tenure at Current School | |||||||||||||||||||
Terry Curtis has been at UMS-Wright for twenty-six
seasons. It has been an impressive run for the Bulldogs under his direction
to say the least. When he first moved to UMS-Wright back in 1999 the
Bulldogs were 3A. Now they are competing in 5A thanks to the private school
multiplier and
competitive balance.
Even with the move to 5A the Bulldogs are still very competitive. The average tenure of all the 5A coaches is 4.8 years. Of course Coach Curtis does help that average. | |||||||||||||||||||
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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. Greenville, with fifteen winning seasons during this time, has changed
coaches ten times. It makes you wonder why. Crossville decided to drop the
football program for a few years in hopes of rebuilding from the bottom up.
Look for them to return in a couple of seasons. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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David Parker
AHSFHS.org
dparker@ahsfhs.org
Great Moments in Alabama High School Football History
Spence McCracken won a record 21 Area/Region Championships at Montgomery Academy, Lee Montgomery and Opelika during his coaching career.
Spence McCracken won a record 21 Area/Region Championships at Montgomery Academy, Lee Montgomery and Opelika during his coaching career.