Commentary: High school coaches legitimate candidates for college positions

By Josh Bean, Press-Register

Remember when Mike Price announced his plan to hire a high school coach for his staff at Alabama?

"I think every coach in Alabama sent a résumé in," said South Alabama coach Joey Jones, then a high school coach at Mountain Brook. "I was excited he was opening the door up."

While Price may have merely wanted to curry favor with men who exert influence over prized prospects, recent history suggests Price was on to something.

Jones remains Exhibit A that high school coaches are capable, considering the Jaguars are 17-0 with a staff that includes defensive coordinator Bill Clark, who built Prattville into a high school juggernaut. More recently, Jones dipped into the high school ranks again when he plucked Bryant Vincent from Spanish Fort to fill a staff vacancy.

Jones sees South Alabama's success partly as a referendum on high school coaches' ability to make a successful transition to college.

"There are a lot of people watching us to see how we handle it," he said. "There's pressure. We need to perform well so some folks who come after us will have the same opportunity. I do feel that somewhat."

Conventional wisdom -- thanks in no small part to Gerry Faust's flop at Notre Dame in the 1980s -- says high school coaches will automatically fail in college. But at Auburn, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn now earns more than $1 million per season and is one of college football's hottest assistants. Just a few years ago, people wondered if his "high school offense" could hack it in college.

At Alabama, defensive backs coach Jeremy Pruitt has emerged as a bright, capable defensive mind after a stint as an assistant at 6A powerhouse Hoover High.

Pat Dye's first staff at Auburn in 1981 featured two coaches directly from the high school ranks -- defensive ends coach Joe Whitt from Lee-Montgomery and offensive line coach James Daniel from Enterprise.

A lack of recruiting experience continues to haunt high school coaches, but Jones said he turned that into a positive. At Mountain Brook, he watched and learned when college coaches visited to recruit his players.

Considering Jones' success, perhaps more colleges should pay more attention to high school coaches when the inevitable job search begins.

Contact Josh Bean at:

His column appears on Thursdays in The Press-Register.

Source: http://www.al.com