Decatur and
Hartselle are located less than 15 miles apart in Morgan County. That's not far enough for the hardliners.
To put it frankly, Decatur and Hartselle football just doesn't mix.
The rival schools rarely find themselves on the same side. That will be much different next December.Welcome to the Alabama-Mississippi Football Classic.
The announcement of Decatur football coach Jere Adcock as the Alabama head coach for next December's 25th Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Football Classic shouldn't come as a surprise. He is a pedigreed coach with a 110-53 record in 15 seasons at the Red Raiders' head coach. His teams are always competitive and his ability to organize and manage an outstanding staff has been documented.
Neither should be a surprise that Hartselle head coach Bob Godsey will be the All-Star staff's defensive coordinator. Like Adcock, he has a proven pedigree as well – compiling a 100-40 career mark – first at Brooks High School and more recently at Hartselle. The two coaches are great friends – just not when the two teams play each season.
For Adcock, who served as president of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association in 2007-08, being chosen to coach the Alabama All-Stars is a humbling experience, he said. He also sees it as a time for players and coaches to build life-long friendships. And like the 22 previous coaches selected for this special honor (two, Robert Higginbotham and Jack Wood, have served as head coach twice), he takes the job and the game seriously.
"We want the players to enjoy themselves but having fun is put on the shelf. We will be there to win a football game," he said.
He knows all about the serious nature of this intrastate rivalry with Mississippi. He was an assistant coach in the 2006 game which Alabama won 24-3.
Alabama holds a 17-7 edge in the prep all-star football classic that was first played in 1988 at Mobile's Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Alabama has also won the last three contests and 13 of the last 16, including a 24-17 double-overtime win over the Mississippi Stars in 2010. Seniors who will graduate in 2012 will be selected next fall by a special selection committee and Adcock's staff.
Adcock led the Red Raiders to a 9-2 record in Class 6A last season – including a 20-14 win over Godsey's Tigers in week five. Hartselle did not lose again until Briarwood edged the Tigers 24-21 in the Class 5A semifinals. Hartselle finished 12-2 overall.
The six-man coaching staff announced last week collectively won 84 games last season with
Daphne leader Glenn Vickery winning the Class 6A championship with a perfect 15-0 record;
Thomasville coach Jack Hankins, Jr., winning the 4A start crown with a 15-0 slate; and Danny Powell of
Leroy claiming his third Class 2A state title in the last four years with a 14-1 mark.
Oneonta coach Don Jacobs, a former University of Alabama standout quarterback, will serve as offensive coordinator for Adcock. The Class 4A Redskins were 8-4 last season for Jacobs. Laron White of
Tanner led his Rattlers to an 11-1 record in Class 2A in 2010. He comes from a great coaching family with uncle Mylun White and dad Louis White both already inducted into the AHSAA Sports Hall of Fame. His brother Kelvis is head coach at Class 6A Dothan.
The scout coach is Lee Cagle, a long-time member of Adcock's Decatur staff.
Adcock currently has two players starting on NFL teams – linebacker Rolando McClain and defensive back Jarraud Powers. Another, wide receiver Taz Biddle, is currently playing in the NFL's developmental league. All three played in the Alabama-Mississippi Classic as seniors.
COACHES MAKE CHANGESPell City filled its opening for head football coach and athletic director last week with the approval of former Spain Park High School coach David Shores. Shores, who has worked with some of college football's top coaches including Will Muschamp and Nick Saban, was head coach at Spain Park in Hoover until he was relieved of his coaching duties and moved to the central office of the Hoover City Schools following an incident with one of his players last season. Shores replaces Jay Brown as the Panthers' coach.
In January,
Homewood announced the hiring of Russellville's Doug Goodwin as its new head coach. He replaces Dickey Wright. Goodwin, who owns a 200-79 career record with stops at Lineville, Demopolis and Russellville, comes in with quite an offensive pedigree. His 2004 Demopolis team went 15-0 and won the Class 4A state championship while scoring a state-record 761 points (50.8 ppg). He is also the only coach in state history to lead three different schools to the Super 6 finals.
And in one surprising hire, former John Carroll Catholic High School boys basketball coach Marty Smith, who left coaching to work with the Alabama Sports Foundation, was named Tuesday as the new head football coach and athletic director at
Southside (Gadsden). Smith coached John Carroll to back-to-back state basketball titles in 2003 and 2004. He also has been a proven assistant coach and was an outstanding high school quarterback at Erwin High School.
