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The best of the best in Alabama High
School Football over the past 100 seasons.
2023 Football Coaching Changes
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New Hires: Ten Best Hire: Chris Smelley, Sylacauga Hardest to Replace: Brian Seymour, Demopolis Best Job: Demopolis Toughest Job: St. Clair County |
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Most Interesting: Chris Smelley, after serving as the
quarterback coach at Hoover last season, takes over at Sylacauga. Coach Smelley built a solid program at American Christian between 2014-2020
winning sixty-five games in those seven seasons. In his final four seasons at American Christian Smelley amassed a 45-8 record, captured three consecutive region crowns (2018-20), and averaged over 35 points per game.
A couple more interesting hires are Houston Powell at Marbury. He pulled off an amazing transformation at Meek where his team went from 1-9 to 11-1 over the past three seasons setting numerous school records last season. He will need to work the same magic at Marbury a program not accustomed to winning on a regular basis. The Bulldogs have won just a single playoff game since 1992. Lance Tucker returns to the state after a four year stint at Bartlett in Tennessee. Coach Tucker is following in his father's footsteps and does have a history of success at Fayette County. Greenville has a history of hiring good coaches but they generally do not hang around long. Bryant Vincent, Ben Blackmon, Patrick Plott, Josh McLendon and Patrick Browning were all young coaches at Greenville who left after a few seasons. | |||||||
| 2023 Coaching Changes | |||||
| Of the ten new hires in
5A five have head football coaching experience. One interesting fact is that
only two of the programs, Demopolis and Selma, finished the 2022 season with
a winning record. Four of the schools won less than two games last year. | |||||
| Team | 2022 Season | 2023 Season | |||
| Arab (11-2) | Lee Ozmint | Lee Ozmint | |||
| Carroll (1-9) | Mark Cochran | Patrick Plott | |||
| Citronelle (1-9) | Jason Barnett | Jason Rowell | |||
| Crossville (0-10) | Riley Edwards | No Team | |||
| Demopolis (10-2) | Brian Seymore | Lance Tucker | |||
| Faith Academy (11-3) | Jack French | Jack French | |||
| Greenville (1-9) | Patrick Browning | Garrick Pimienta | |||
| Holtville (3-8) | Jason Franklin | Jason Franklin | |||
| Jasper (5-6) | Philip Bailey | David Reeves | |||
| Jemison (5-6) | Philip Bailey | John Therrell | |||
| Marbury (4-7) | Hayden Stockton | Houston Powell | |||
| Rehobeth (4-6) | Pate Harrison | Toby Greene | |||
| Sardis (4-6) | Chris Stephenson | B.J. Brooks | |||
| Sardis (4-6) | Chris Stephenson | B.J. Brooks | |||
| Scottsboro (7-5) | Cris Bell | Cris Bell | |||
| Section (1-9) | Chris Hammon | Cris Bell | |||
| Selma (7-4) | Willie Gandy | Leon Day | |||
| Selma (7-4) | Willie Gandy | Leon Day | |||
| St. Clair County (0-10) | P.J. Wright | Tyler Robinson | |||
| St. Clair County (0-10) | P.J. Wright | Tyler Robinson | |||
| St. James (13-2) | Jimmy Perry | Tyler Robinson | |||
| Sylacauga (0-10) | Rob Carter | Chris Smelley | |||
| Sylacauga (0-10) | Rob Carter | Chris Smelley | |||
| Sylvania (10-4) | Tyler Vann | Chris Smelley | |||
| Tallassee (7-5) | Mike Battles Jr. | Mike Battles Jr. | |||
| Tanner (4-5) | Oscar Bonds | Mike Battles Jr. | |||
| West Point (3-7) | Don Farley | Don Farley | |||
| Westbrook Christian (5-5) | Drew Noles | Don Farley | |||
| Most Victories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class 5A has the distinction of
having three coaches with
over 300 wins in their career. Terry Curtis surpassed Buddy Anderson last
year for the most victories in Alabama. Danny Horn is very close behind with
341 wins in his coaching career and Jack French has won 306 games in two
different states. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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-five
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 4.6 years. Of course Coach Curtis does help that average. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Coaching Turnover 2000-2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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
The Morgan Academy Senators have appeared in 14 state championship games from 1984-2008, winning the title 11 times.
The Morgan Academy Senators have appeared in 14 state championship games from 1984-2008, winning the title 11 times.
