David Hogan was an All-State football player for Athens High School during the 1960s. Hogan served as an assistant coach at Hartselle High School before accepting the head football coaching position at Austin in 1976. His two seasons produced a 4-16 record and he stepped down following the 1977 season. He spent two years as an assistant at J.O. Johnson before taking over the reins of the Hazlewood Golden Bears in 1980. After a 6-4 season in 1980, the Bears exploded the next two years. In 1981 Hazlewood went 13-1. They lost only to Colbert County 7-3 during the regular season to capture the Class 1A State Championship, thanks in large part to the efforts of senior tailback Chris Goode and his younger brother Kerry. They defeated McKenzie 28-0 in the title game. The next season Hogan received permission from the AHSAA to move the Golden Bears up to Class 2A, even though the student population still put them in the 1A classification. He wanted to give his team more competition against larger schools. The next season did not disappoint the fans as Hazlewood went 14-0 in 2A. They beat Dadeville 29-16 to win their second consecutive State Championship. Following the 1982 season, The Birmingham News named Hogan Class 2A Coach of the Year while The Decatur Daily named Hazlewood the best team in Lawrence, Morgan and Limestone County history. The 1983 team went undefeated through the regular season, but was upset by Oak Grove 22-21 in the state semifinals. The following season, the Golden Bears went through the regular season undefeated before losing to Courtland in the second round. His five teams at Hazlewood finished a combined 54-7. Hogan left after the 1984 season to take over a struggling Haleyville program and remained there through the 1990 season. His six teams went 33-34 during his tenure with the Lions. His overall coaching record is 91-57 in only 13 seasons as a head football coach. He later worked as a volunteer on the coaching staff at Russellville High School. In 1998 Hogan moved to Tharptown Elementary as the assistant principal. In 2006 Hogan was an assistant coach on the first Tharptown Junior High football team. He was inducted into the Limestone County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. |