Dr. Eric Mackey, state superintendent of education discussed fall sports in his press conference on Friday. He says that there will be games, but it may look differently. Guidelines for football will more than likely include extended sidelines to spread out players, less people on the sidelines and as much social distancing as possible in the bleachers. AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese said on Friday morning, “We appreciate Dr. Mackey and his staff for their tireless efforts. I am looking forward to working with school administrators and with the AHSAA Football and Fall Sports committees which meet on July 7 in addition to the Alabama Football Coaches Association on July 8 to discuss the ALSDE Roadmap and the ADPH guidelines.” Stay tuned.
Hall of Fame Coach Waldon Tucker has returned to coaching. Guess where? Yes, he has returned to his beloved Fayette County where he spent 27 highly successful seasons from 1984 through 2010. His son Lance took over the following season and led the Tigers for 8 years before leaving last year to go to Memphis, Tennessee and coach. First year coach Bill Smith finished 8-3 but left in March and landed at Huffman. Tucker, known for his passing attacks through out his career, opens the 2020 season August 20th vs. Winfield.
Robin Tyra is leaving Abbeville to take the head job at Ashford. Tyra spent six seasons rebuilding the Yellow Jacket program. The last three years his teams went 27-8 and all three squads made the playoffs. “I just ran into a time and opportunity that I felt I could jump out and take on another adventure and that’s what I did. It’s a great opportunity to do a little something different.”
Rodney Stidham has stepped down as Hamilton head coach but will remain on staff as an assistant. He cited “non life threatening health issues” as the reason he needed to change. Stidham has been the head coach at Hamilton for 15 seasons with a record of 113-59. Long time offensive coordinator Barry Peoples has taken over as interim head coach.
Former Dale County and Elba head coach Pate Harrison has landed at Rehobeth High School. Harrison spent last season as a defensive coordinator at Cairo (Ga.) High School. “It’s an opportunity to get back home,” Harrison said. “My wife is still teaching in Alabama and my youngest is still going to school there.” Harrison had a highly successful run at Dale County, guiding the Warriors to a 46-24 record over seven seasons, including a Class 3A state runner-up finish in 2014. Harrison was 11-4 during his tenure at Elba.
Winterboro has hired Skylar Mansfield as their new head coach. Mansfield comes from Lincoln where he has been the defensive coordinator. Winterboro went 6-5 last year in 1A Region 5 under Alana Beckett.
Vigor has hired JohnMcKenzie as their new head football coach. McKenzie comes to Vigor from Kemper High School in Mississippi where he spent the last 2 seasons rebuilding that program. McKenzie has spent most of his career as a college coach, including a 2 year stint as head coach at Delaware State. “In the Mobile area and in college coaching circles, Vigor is one of the most prestigious schools around,” McKenzie said. “It’s a school you want to recruit if you are in college because you know the type of athletes they produce and the type of athletes that are located in Mobile in general.”
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