By Gene Stanley/Sports Correspondent
Jason Touart has never been a high school football coach – in any capacity.
However, his corporate experience has taught Touart a lot of fundamentals, such as planning, organization and how to work with people.
Those qualities drew Coosa Christian High toward hiring Touart as the newest coach.
“He comes from a coaching family, so we know he knows his game,” Coosa Christian athletic director Richard Hollingsworth said. “And being around a different environment, he’s learned how to deal with people.
“His name was given to us by some people who knew he was looking for a coaching job.”
Touart’s father Larry was a coach at Ashville for 30 years.
Another plus is that Touart isn’t in it for a winning season – he wants to build the program.
“There’s a lot of work to do,” Touart said. “This isn’t a one-year thing for me – I want to see this program built up to the point it needs to be.”
Touart replaces Scott Clifton, whose 2013 Conquerors went 3-7. Coosa last winning season came in 2009 under Teddy Helms.
A ruptured disk actually gave Touart a second chance at coaching. After the injury, he started studying toward his second degree, which he hopes to obtain in Jacksonville shortly.
Background assets will also help Touart in his first gig. Learning from his father and from current Jacksonville State coach John Grass could prove very helpful.
“Coach Grass has opened it up so that I (and my team) can come in to watch practice or just talk or whatever,” Touart said.
Touart played quarterback and free safety for Grass at Ashville before going on to play baseball at Wallace State-Selma. He had a chance to play for Montevallo but “my heart was in Auburn.”
Touart tried to walk on at Auburn but it didn’t work out. He went on to get his degree at Auburn, though. He also had a chance to play football at Cumberland University.
“I’ve never stopped learning and I’ve never stopped loving the game,” the 1999 Ashville graduate said. “I may not have been coaching, but I’ve been constantly reading and learning.”