By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
Glencoe High Principal Charlton Giles didn’t have to look too far to select the school’s new head football coach.
Last Wednesday (Dec. 19) Giles recommended to the Etowah County Board of Education that 1998 GHS graduate Brian Alred be hired as the 24th head coach in the school’s history. Alred replaced Rusty Davis, who stepped down after two seasons.
“When we started the [interviewing] process, I was hoping that we’d have a lot of quality applicants, and we did,” said Giles. “But eventually one distinguished himself above the rest, and it turned out that Brian was that candidate. It was a combination of timing, the situation, the type of person and background.”
Alred was head football coach at Ragland the past two years, where he guided the Purple Devils to a 12-10 record.
“[Glencoe] was always a place that I wanted to be at since I got into coaching,” said Alred. “It’s tough to leave Ragland because it’s a great place and they treated me really well, but I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity to come home.”
Alred played football at Glencoe under current Westbrook Christian head coach Brian Mintz and was an All-Etowah County selection at linebacker. He also played baseball for the Yellow Jackets.
After graduating from Jacksonville State in 2002, Alred had teaching and assistant coaching stops at Springville and St. Clair County high schools before arriving at Ragland, where he was defensive coordinator before becoming head coach.
“I was able to work under some really good football coaches at those schools and learned a lot about the game,” he said.
Alred said that he will stress physicality and discipline for the Yellow Jackets, who went 5-15 the last two seasons.
“To me, that’s what I think of when I think of Glencoe football,” he said. “We’ve haven’t always had the best athletes, so to speak, on the field, but we’ve always been mentally and physically tough. That’s the brand of football that we’re going to play. Glencoe has struggled lately and we understand that it’s going to be a challenge, but it’s going to be our goal to work hard and get better week from to week. We’re ready to get in there and get to work.”
Besides being a Glencoe graduate and resident, Alred’s ties to the community include his three children attending area schools. In addition, he and his family are members of Glencoe First Baptist Church.
“We’ve got some good relationships established and we’re excited to work with the community and the City of Glencoe,” he said.
Alred will continue at Ragland for the next several weeks before assuming his teaching and coaching positions at Glencoe sometime in January. That will leave plenty of time to implement his off-season workout schedule and prepare for spring football.
“That’s an important time for being in the weight room from January until May,” he said. “That’s where you’re going to see your biggest gains strength-wise. I’m ready to get in there and get active with them.”
Although Giles noted that Alred will have a tough task ahead of him with the football program in rebuilding mode, he believes that Alred will up for the challenge.
“Once a Yellow Jacket, always a Yellow Jacket,” said Giles. “We’re bringing in someone who already knows a great many people in the area, so from the beginning he’ll have a tremendous amount of community support.