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The best of the best in Alabama High
School Football over the past 100 seasons.
2026 Class 5A Coaching Changes
2026 Head Football Coaching Changes |
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Blount - Ramon Nelson leaves Blount after three seasons with only six victories to show for all his hard work and effort leading the football program. The Leopards have not qualified for the playoffs since 2020 which is the longest streak since before the Ben Harris era back in the 1980s. The program is a long way removed from the glory days of the 1990s when they won five state championships. 2026 Season - Gus Smith returns to the Mobile area after spending the 2025 football season as an assistant coach at Daphne. He was the head coach at Gordo for three seasons with a record of 31-6. His task at Blount will be a little tougher than Gordo as the Leopards are in need of rebuilding. The Leopards have not enjoyed a winning season since 2020. Chelsea - Todd Cassity leaves Chelsea after four seasons as the head coach. He resigned in January to pursue opportunities in Georgia after spending the last 28 years in Alabama. His overall record in 13 seasons as a head coach stands at 74-72. 2026 Season - Tad Niblett, a seasoned coach with 33 years of experience, joins Chelsea after a successful tenure at Gainesville High School in Georgia, where he served as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. His last head coaching job in Alabama was at Foley through the 2019 football season. East Limestone - Will Johnson leaves East Limestone after two seasons with a record of 2-18. The Indians will once again be headed to fall practice with new leadership in 2026. 2026 Season - Vacant Hueytown - Greg Patterson. resigned his position as head coach at Hueytown after seven seasons as the head football coach. He steps down with a record of 75-54 at Sumiton Christian and Hueytown over eleven seasons. Each of his Golden Gophers teams reached the playoffs with the 2021 squad playing for a state championship. 2026 Season - Jeremy Vines will take his recent success at Bullock County to Hueytown as the 2026 football season approaches. Vines turned around the program at Bullock County in three short seasons. His last team won nine games which was the most in any season since 1972 for the Hornets. Huffman - Rodney Bivens Jr. leaves after three seasons leading the Vikings of Huffman football program. His teams only managed to win three games but showed some progress each year. The Vikings have fallen on tough times over the past twenty seasons as they have not won more games than they lost since 2005. They also have not won a playoff game since 2001. They will be in search of the fifth head coach in the past seven years. 2026 Season - Darrell LeBeaux will be back on the sidelines after one season away from his head coaching duties. LeBeaux had great success at Pleasant Grove leading the Spartans to an impressive 75-16 record in eight seasons. Every team won at least nine games and reached the second round of the playoffs. He also led the Spartans to three consecutive championship game appearances. Lee Huntsville - Antonio Ford leaves Lee High School after just one season to join the staff at Albertville under head coach Adam Winegarden. 2026 Season - Navendra Woods served as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Huntsville High School from 2022-2025. Woods also worked for Gadsden City High School as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach from 2019-2022. He played high school football at Litchfield High School in Gadsden before continuing his career at Alabama A&M University, where he played for two years. Minor - Adrian Abrams leaves Minor High School after eight seasons with a record of 35-47 and 0-4 in the playoffs. The Tigers last winning season was 2020 when they finished 6-4 losing in the first round of the playoffs. 2026 Season - Rico Jackson has been much traveled over the course of his career but will be returning closer to home by taking over the head coaching job at Minor. All he did last season was lead Anniston to a 14-1 record and a trip to the Class 4A state championship game in Birmingham. While his team did lose to a great Jackson team it did not diminish the fact that Anniston had a great season. Muscle Shoals - Scott Basden retires after 26 seasons as a head football coach. His teams at Parrish, Cordova and Muscle Shoals accumulated 239 victories in those 26 years along with 42 playoff wins. While he was unable to lead the Trojans to a coveted state championship he did win one at Cordova in 2007. His 18 years at Muscle Shoals produced 170 wins and eight region championships. 2026 Season - Michael Darden spent the last five seasons as the Trojans' offensive coordinator before landing the head coaching job in April. Darden has been coaching for 18 years with previous assistant coaching jobs at Oxford and Arab. Park Crossing - Charles Biggers leaves Park Crossing after two seasons that did not produce a single victory. Back-to-back 0-9 seasons were not what the administration were looking for it seems so the Thunderbirds will be in search of a new leader to hopefully rebuild the football program at Park Crossing. 2026 Season - Lawrence ONeal may just be what the Thunderbirds need to jump start their football fortunes after seven consecutive losing seasons including back-to-back 0-9 records the last two years. O'Neal arrives from Tallassee having gone 15-8 at the school during his two seasons leading the football program. This could prove to be one of the best hires during the 2025/26 off season. Pell City - Nick Gentry resigned his position as the head football coach at Pell City in early December. After only two seasons he will be moving on but certainly will reappear in another coaching job soon. His two seasons produced a record of 12-10 with playoff berths each year. The seven wins in 2025 were the most for any Panther coach since the 2012 football season. Since that year the Panthers will be in search of their eighth coach in the past fourteen seasons. 2026 Season - Jake Ganus arrives in Pell City with his championship game trophy in hand and hopes of working his magic for the Panthers. He led Moody to a championship in 2025 after being at the school for only four seasons. It was the first ever title for the Blue Devils. Pell City has promised to do whatever it takes to allow him the same opportunity with the Panthers. Percy Julian - Kenneth White leaves Percy Julian with a couple of seasons under his belt. The Phoenix finished 8-12 in those two seasons with one playoff loss. 2026 Season - Vacant Pinson Valley - James Thompson leaves Pinson Valley after only two seasons with a record of 5-15. The Indians will be in search of their seventh head football coach since 2016. That is just ten short years. They need to find some stability at the top if they wish to return to the days of winning state championships. 2026 Season - Logan Colafrancesco becomes Pinson Valley's sixth head football coach in the past eight years. Coach Cola was the offensive coordinator at Pike Road most recently and the former head coach at John Carroll between 2016-2019. He also served two stints as an assistant coach at Pinson Valley, including as the offensive coordinator. Colafrancesco will be trying to recapture the glory years under past head coaches Patrick Nix and Sam Shade. Rehobeth - Toby Greene leaves Rehobeth after just three seasons at the helm with a 14-16 record. His teams failed to reach the playoffs in any of the three seasons. The Rebels will be in search of their seventh head coach since the end of the 2011 football season. The last playoff win for the Rebels came back in 2005 under the direction of head coach George Kennedy whose team that season finished with a 10-2 record. They have not found much success on the field since that season making the playoffs just three times the past twenty years. 2026 Season - Ethan Holland spent the 2025 season as the head coach at Headland where his only team finished with a 4-5 record. Holland served as defensive coordinator at Cottonwood for three seasons prior to accepting the job at Headland last season. Russellville - Dustin Goodwin leaves Russellville after only two seasons to return to where he played high school football at Demopolis. His two teams finished 7-4 and 7-5 reaching the playoff both seasons. 2026 Season - Darrell Higgins takes over the head coaching reins at Russellville after building Mars Hill into a championship football program over the past ten seasons. His 107-27 record ranks among the best in the state over the past ten years. He will not be in rebuilding mode at Russellville as the Tigers have been a perennial winner for decades. Springville - Chris Metcalf leaves Springville after just one season with a 1-9 record. He arrived at the school with high hopes but he stepped down to take an assistant coaching job at Mountain Brook in March. The Tigers will be in search of a new coach in hopes of turning around a promising program that has not had a winning season since 2011. 2026 Season - Jeff Lumpkin will be the next head football coach at Springville when fall practice opens in August. Lumpkin attended Alexandria High School and received his degree from Jacksonville State University before embarking on his coaching career. This will be his first head coaching job. Theodore - Steve Mask stepped down as the head football coach at Theodore after leading the Bobcats the past three seasons. His career spans 29 years in Alabama with a record of 231-120. He will be most remembered for the four state championships his teams won at St. Paul's. His head coaching career began in 1990 at Bradshaw for five seasons followed by another five years at Buckhorn. On to Colbert County where his experience started to produce winning football teams consistently. After going 52-15 at Colbert County his St. Paul's teams finished a combined 110-25 in ten seasons. The Theodore job should be considered one on the better spots in Mobile County for some lucky coach. 2026 Season - Randy Larson is a veteran assistant coach and served as the defensive coordinator for the Bobcats under Coach Mask the past three seasons. Larson played running back and linebacker at Theodore from 1996-2000 before walking on at Troy and later receiving his degree from South Alabama. He returned to Theodore as an assistant coach for six seasons before moving over to Saraland and Satsuma before returning to Theodore in 2000. | |
David Parker
AHSFHS.org
dparker@ahsfhs.org
Great Moments in Alabama High School Football History
The Alabama High School Athletic Association was first organized in 1921.
The Alabama High School Athletic Association was first organized in 1921.
