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2023 Alabama high school football preseason
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July 24,
2023
Did you know you can follow AHSFHS.org on Twitter? We will regularly post information about teams throughout the season and even during the offseason. Follow us at: @AlabamaHSFB.
There were a number of coaching changes this off season as at least 104 schools sought a different path to success. That number is actually less than last year but about the norm over the past twenty years. We will be looking at all those changes in our annual coaching update series coming next week.
A lot of off season news but in reality it seemed to be a somewhat slow and quiet time since the 2022 season ended. I suppose the biggest news has to be the return of Rush Propst to Alabama after a seventeen year absence. Who would have ever thought he would be back close where it all began in 1989. Time will tell if this was a good move by the powers that be in Pell City.
Two schools in Montgomery have changed their names at the beginning of this school year. The Robert E. Lee Generals will be known as Julian Percy and their new mascot will be the Panthers. Also Jeff Davis will now be known as JAG High School. Along those lines in Montgomery, Sidney Lanier will consolidate with Carver next year. Those are major changes on the football landscape in the state capital city.
It seems Crossville will not field a football team this fall due to the lack of numbers. Valley and Lafayette are set to consolidate once the new high school is completed in Valley possibly by next season. Bayshore Academy in Baldwin County is starting a football program led by head coach Phil Lazenby formally of Bayside Academy. They will play JV ball for a couple of seasons before joining the AHSAA in 2025. No new teams are coming on the scene this fall so things are set for a great season of high school football once again.
In 1933 Hall of Fame coach H.L. Shorty Ogle left Hanceville to take the head coaching position at Decatur. Why is that important some 90 years later? Well for the last 89 seasons the Decatur Red Raiders have had exactly five head football coaches. Think about that for a moment. This season there are 387 different teams taking the football field when the season begins. 237 of those teams have had more than five coaching changes just since 2000. Forty teams have had ten or more coaching changes the past 23 seasons. That is an amazing accomplishment when you consider how often coaches move around in today's world of high school football.
Can Mr. Football Ryan Williams do something no previous player has accomplished ever? Win a second Mr. Football award. He is only the second underclassman to win the award following La'Damian Webb who won it in 2016. Just a junior Williams will have a great opportunity to repeat in 2023.
Other contenders for Mr. Football could be QB Peyton Floyd of Hewitt-Trussville, RB Cole Gamble at Mountain Brook, QB KJ Lacey at Saraland, RB Alvin Henderson at Elba or one of many other stars across Alabama high school football.
It seems there are a lot of players entering the transfer portal this year. Many more than I ever remember especially in the lower classifications. So as the season progresses we can look forward to more finger point, accusations and even a couple of teams forfeiting games due to improper movement of players. Head coaches really need to be on top of their game when it comes to making certain these moves are legit and above board or their teams will pay a dear price for what a parent deceptively does in transferring to a new team. The blame in most every case should be placed on the parents and not the football coaches.
We at AHSFHS.org will kick off our string of articles and previews starting Monday, July 31st. We will kick it off with all the coaching changes and more information about the coaches in each classification. The next Monday, August 7th, we will jump into the previews and predictions for each classification. Finally we will wind everything up with the previews of each and every team playing football this fall the following day on Tuesday. In between we will post a few article pertaining to the 2023 football season every day or two.
We will be back with our weekly predictions of the games using the AHSFHS Power Ratings. We will release the first Power Rating for each school after the third week of action. AHSFHS.org will have all the usual content including scoring average4s, region standings, scores and tons of numbers and stats as always.
Well that about sums up where we are as the 2023 football season approaches. There are many more topics of discussion but we will leave those to the coaches, players and fans across the state. Now lets play some football. Jamborees are scheduled for some teams soon with real games beginning Thursday the 24th.
Did you know you can follow AHSFHS.org on Twitter? We will regularly post information about teams throughout the season and even during the offseason. Follow us at: @AlabamaHSFB.
There were a number of coaching changes this off season as at least 104 schools sought a different path to success. That number is actually less than last year but about the norm over the past twenty years. We will be looking at all those changes in our annual coaching update series coming next week.
A lot of off season news but in reality it seemed to be a somewhat slow and quiet time since the 2022 season ended. I suppose the biggest news has to be the return of Rush Propst to Alabama after a seventeen year absence. Who would have ever thought he would be back close where it all began in 1989. Time will tell if this was a good move by the powers that be in Pell City.
Two schools in Montgomery have changed their names at the beginning of this school year. The Robert E. Lee Generals will be known as Julian Percy and their new mascot will be the Panthers. Also Jeff Davis will now be known as JAG High School. Along those lines in Montgomery, Sidney Lanier will consolidate with Carver next year. Those are major changes on the football landscape in the state capital city.
It seems Crossville will not field a football team this fall due to the lack of numbers. Valley and Lafayette are set to consolidate once the new high school is completed in Valley possibly by next season. Bayshore Academy in Baldwin County is starting a football program led by head coach Phil Lazenby formally of Bayside Academy. They will play JV ball for a couple of seasons before joining the AHSAA in 2025. No new teams are coming on the scene this fall so things are set for a great season of high school football once again.
In 1933 Hall of Fame coach H.L. Shorty Ogle left Hanceville to take the head coaching position at Decatur. Why is that important some 90 years later? Well for the last 89 seasons the Decatur Red Raiders have had exactly five head football coaches. Think about that for a moment. This season there are 387 different teams taking the football field when the season begins. 237 of those teams have had more than five coaching changes just since 2000. Forty teams have had ten or more coaching changes the past 23 seasons. That is an amazing accomplishment when you consider how often coaches move around in today's world of high school football.
Can Mr. Football Ryan Williams do something no previous player has accomplished ever? Win a second Mr. Football award. He is only the second underclassman to win the award following La'Damian Webb who won it in 2016. Just a junior Williams will have a great opportunity to repeat in 2023.
Other contenders for Mr. Football could be QB Peyton Floyd of Hewitt-Trussville, RB Cole Gamble at Mountain Brook, QB KJ Lacey at Saraland, RB Alvin Henderson at Elba or one of many other stars across Alabama high school football.
It seems there are a lot of players entering the transfer portal this year. Many more than I ever remember especially in the lower classifications. So as the season progresses we can look forward to more finger point, accusations and even a couple of teams forfeiting games due to improper movement of players. Head coaches really need to be on top of their game when it comes to making certain these moves are legit and above board or their teams will pay a dear price for what a parent deceptively does in transferring to a new team. The blame in most every case should be placed on the parents and not the football coaches.
We at AHSFHS.org will kick off our string of articles and previews starting Monday, July 31st. We will kick it off with all the coaching changes and more information about the coaches in each classification. The next Monday, August 7th, we will jump into the previews and predictions for each classification. Finally we will wind everything up with the previews of each and every team playing football this fall the following day on Tuesday. In between we will post a few article pertaining to the 2023 football season every day or two.
We will be back with our weekly predictions of the games using the AHSFHS Power Ratings. We will release the first Power Rating for each school after the third week of action. AHSFHS.org will have all the usual content including scoring average4s, region standings, scores and tons of numbers and stats as always.
Well that about sums up where we are as the 2023 football season approaches. There are many more topics of discussion but we will leave those to the coaches, players and fans across the state. Now lets play some football. Jamborees are scheduled for some teams soon with real games beginning Thursday the 24th.
David Parker
AHSFHS.org
dparker@ahsfhs.org
Great Moments in Alabama High School Football History
Since 1966 the Colbert County Indians have made the state playoffs a record 37 times.
Since 1966 the Colbert County Indians have made the state playoffs a record 37 times.
