The 2019 coaching carousel continued as summer workouts move into July.
The Albertville Aggies lost head coach Dale Pruitt who took the job at Dade County High School in Trenton, Georgia. They replaced Coach Pruitt with longtime assistant Cliff Mitchell. Mitchell had been with the Aggies as an assistant his entire 15 year career, starting with the school on 2004. He served the last four seasons as Albertville’s assistant head coach.
Bessemer City named former Alabama quarterback Andrew Zow to their head job. Zow comes to Bessemer after successful stints at Montevallo and Calera. “I love helping young people on and off the field develop into great football players and great people,” Zow said.
Calera named assistant coach Trey Simpson as their new head man, replacing Zow. Calera finished 1-9 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011 as the Eagles moved up to Class 6A for the first time. Simpson had served as Calera’s baseball coach this past year.
Leeds High School named former Oak Mountain and Clay Chalkville coach Jerry Hood as their new head football coach. Hood had retired from the public schools and was serving as a salesman and assistant coach at Briarwood Christian. Hood had a very successful run at Clay, winning the 2014 6A State Championship. Former Leeds coach Lee Gibson stepped down to enter administration.
Bart Sessions has been selected by McAdory as their new coach. He replaces David Powell, who resigned after 25 years at the school to take the job at Sumiton Christian. A longtime assistant coach at Davidson, Sessions went 34-5 in a great three year run at the Mobile private school. He took the Tuscaloosa County job in 2016 going 2-8, but left after one season to become the coach at Gadsden City. He left the Titans after winning three games each in 2017 and 2018. “This is a place where you can win state championships,” Sessions said about the McAdory job.
Daniel Flowers is leaving Southside Selma High School to become the new coach at Wenonah, replacing Ronald Cheatham who retired after 30 years at the school. “It’s difficult to leave Southside after 8 years, but I have taken them as far as I can take them. It’s time for someone else to take over now,” Flowers said.
As summer continues, there are several schools who still have not officially named their head coaches, including Maplesville, Lee Montgomery, and Linden.