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  School Football over the past 100 seasons.





2014 Class 5A Coaching Changes 


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Class 5A
New Hires: 14
Best Hire: Patrick Plott, Greenville
Hardest to replace: Smitty Grider, Beauregard
Best Job: Russellville
Toughest Job: Butler


Region 1

Escambia County - Lev Holly resigned after two seasons as the head football coach with the Blue Devils to spend more time with his family. Royce Young moves over from Cordova where he served as the offensive coordinator in 2013. Young has been a head coach for 24 seasons at six different high schools. His overall record is 92-156. His last head coaching stop was at Carbon Hill, where he spent three years from 2010-2012 and went a combined 4-26.



Region 2

Greenville - Earnest Hill leaves Greenville after three seasons and a 19-15 record. Each of his three teams won fewer games than the previous season. Patrick Plott accepted the head coaching job after his last three teams at Pickens County went 27-5 with the last winning a championship last season. He has also served as the head coach at Aliceville and Bullock County with an overall record of 76-24 in eight seasons.

Charles Henderson - Mike Dean resigned following the 2013 season after only two years in Troy. He took the Trojans to the Class 4A state championship game this past season. Coach Dean



Region 3

Beauregard - Smitty Grider resigned after the season to take over the reins at Park Crossing in Montgomery. He was the head coach at Beauregard the past eight seasons and leaves with a record of 64-28. All but one of his teams reached the playoffs during his tenure with the school. Rob Carter landed his first head coaching job at Beauregard. He served as an assistant at Russell County (1993-99), Lanett (1999-2001), Crenshaw Christian (2001-2004) before moving to Beauregard. He has spent the past eight seasons at the school.

Shelby County - Brent Smith leaves Shelby County after a couple of 1-9 campaigns with the program. Heath Childers takes over the coaching duties after serving as an assistant at Shelby County. He has been an assistant coach for fifteen seasons in Alabama and Georgia.



Region 4

Dallas County - Barry Colburn leaves after only one season at the school and a 2-8 record. Marty Smith takes over the football program after serving as the head football coach at Southside in Gadsden in 2011-12. His two teams finished with a 9-11 record.

Wilcox Central - After only two years at the school, L.C. Cole leaves with a record of 3-17. Darius Gilbert takes over the football program in Camden.

Helena - Watt Parker has accepted the task of building a football program at the new high school in Helena. Parker moves over from Arab where he was the head football coach the past eight seasons. His teams finished with a combined 35-48 record and reached the playoffs twice during his tenure at the school. Parker was also the head coach at Chelsea between 2002-05 with a record of 34-14. All four of his teams at Chelsea reached the playoffs. His overall coaching record is 69-62 in twelve seasons at the two schools. Parker also served as a teacher and assistant coach at Thompson before moving over to Chelsea.



Region 5

Parker - George Bates moves on from Parker after two seasons and a 12-10 record with the program. Andre L. Robinson comes over from Carver after only one season there. He was the head football coach at Parker previously from 1997-2003 with a record of 39-37.

Carver Birmingham - Andre Robinson leaves Carver after a single year and a record of 3-7 at the Birmingham school. Rod Carson was named as the new head football coach after serving as an assistant at Bessemer City.



Region 6

Springville - Keith Maple served as the head football coach at Springville the past 13 seasons. His overall record with the program was 84-60. After a good start at Springville his last three teams failed to reach the playoffs. Steve Davis takes over the football team after serving as the defensive coordinator at the school the past four years.

St. Clair County - Alan Lee leaves St. Clair County after three seasons with a 16-17 record and two playoff appearances. He also served as the head coach at the school from 1992-93 and 1999-2005 with an overall record of 83-52. Lance Smith will take over the ehad coaching duties this fall after serving as the defensive coordinator under Coach Lee the past few years.



Region 7

Butler - Mark Davis spent only one season at Butler and came away with an 0-10 record. Cedric Jackson takes on the task of building something from nothing at Butler. Jackson has served as an assistant at Bob Jones, Lee Huntsville, Grissom and Giles County TN.



Region 8

Columbia - Michael Pryor went 2-18 in two seasons as the head football coach at Columbia. He left the program following last season. When the Eagle open the 2014 season they will have their sixth head football coach in nine seasons. The team has never qualified for a playoff spot and their best season was 5-5. Chris Hancock was named the new head football coach in April. He last served as the defensive coordinator at Sparkman this past season after a two year stint as the head coach at Buckhorn.

Russellville - Michael Jackson resigned after three seasons at the helm. His teams went 18-15 which would not be considered great in Russellville. Between 2000-2010, the Golden Tigers finished eleven seasons in a row with at least ten wins. Mark Heaton comes over after two seasons as the head coach at Haleyville. His teams finished with a 17-6 record and reached the playoffs after each season.




David Parker
  AHSFHS.org
  dparker@ahsfhs.org







Great Moments in Alabama High School Football History

In 1970 Monroe Academy won the first championship in the A.I.S.A. by defeating Lowndes Academy 6-0.