Talkin’ Football
- Updated: August 2, 2024
Please pardon their progress while Anniston coaches do what they can in a time when coaches must recruit their own rosters.
Editor’s note: High school football practice starts this week, and East Alabama Sports Today editor Joe Medley has begun his annual round of preseason visits to football-playing schools in Calhoun County. Check out East Alabama Sports Today’s Facebook page for live interviews each weekday leading up to season openers. Columns and key facts will also appear at EASportsToday.com and related social-media platforms.
ANNISTON — What’s new with Anniston football.
Last year, it was the coach. A year later, well, look around.
See the new turf field in Lott-Mosby Stadium. See the lockers cleared out in the fieldhouse, with new lockers on the way. See the cleared-out weight room, with new equipment to come.
And don’t forget those new chrome-cardinal alternate helmets.
“It’s just something new,” second-year Anniston coach Rico Jackson said. “You’ve got to recruit your kids. If you don’t, somebody else will.”
The helmet idea revives “a blast from the past,” Jackson said, a throwback Anniston’s state championship teams if 1989 and 1994 but with the modern touch of a chrome finish.
It’s all about the hear-and-now realities of high school sports as the hear-and-now realities of college sports trickle down. Check that … flow down.
NIL is coming. Alabama High School Athletic Association leadership sent that message to Coaches in recent meeting. Get ready. It’s on the way.
“It is coming,” Jackson said. “There’s no denying it. It’ll be here within two years.”
High school sports in Alabama don’t have an official portal like college sports, but life always wants to imitate art. The new reality for coaches means recruiting their own rosters, trying to keep them home.
Teams everywhere have move-ins. Teams everywhere also suffer move-outs. It’s part of doing business.
Jackson got move-ins from former Wellborn running back Jabari Williams, the 2023 All-Calhoun County Class 1A-3A player of the year, and former Saks quarterback Jamorris Young this year.
The coach also saw move-outs, with wide receiver Jaden Dobbins gone to Gulf Shores and running back Caleb Wynn moving back to Oxford, where he played in 2022. Wide receiver Jayden Heard moved to Ohatchee.
So please pardon Anniston’s progress. While at it, Jackson hopes as he sits in a cleared out fieldhouse awaiting new lockers, please notice Anniston’s progress.
The new turf is two-tone green, alternating darker and lighter green every five yards. Cardinal end zones with white letters show “Anniston” on the fieldhouse end and “Bulldogs” on the scoreboard end.
Work around the field is ongoing, with visiting bleachers yet to be installed. The Bulldogs might need temporary bleachers early in the season, Jackson said, but the new look can help Anniston in ways other than keeping the program attractive to kids
“It’s going to help,” Jackson said. “The kids are excited to play on it. I’m excited to coach on it.
“We were already pretty fast. We’re going to be really fast on turf. I think it’s going to be to our benefit.”
Locker room and weight room facelifts will held, as well.
As for the rest of recruiting his roster, that’s all Jackson and his staff. Exactly what recruiting one’s own rosters looks can be as individual as the coach.
It started last year.
“Last year, coming in, it was a whirlwind,” Jackson said. “They didn’t know me. I didn’t know them. It was almost trying to earn their trust, even though I knew what I was doing. I’ve done it for a while.
“I think now that I’ve earned their trust, I believe our kids believe I know what I’m doing. Now, it’s just about fine tuning.”
It’s down to the day-to-day routine and forging relationships.
“I feel like I do it naturally,” Jackson said. “I genuinely care about the kids. I feel like our kids know I’ll do whatever I can for them, but you have to stay involved in them. You have to be around. You have to be visible. You have to show them that you’re willing to invest in them, whether it’s pushing forward for facilities or pushing forward for new unis (uniforms), whatever the case may be.
“It is out of control right now. Recruiting is out of control.”
Anniston has talent. Big sophomore Sharontae Bailey has offers from Louisiana-Monroe, Texas State and Alabama State, but Jackson loves Bailey’s “big team goals.”
The roster Jackson must recruit looks a lot like Bailey that way.
“We may not have one standout guy that’s like a Jayden Lewis or a Love Kirby, but we have a bunch of really good football players,” Jackson said. “They’re gritty. They’re hungry. I’m excited.”
Bulldog facts
Things to know about Anniston football heading into the 2024 season:
—Rico Jackson enters his second season as Anniston’s head coach. He’s 64-63 in 12 seasons as a head coach at Tarrant, Murphy, Escambia County, Aliceville, Fairfield and Anniston.
—The Bulldogs went 6-4 in 2023, finishing third in Class 4A, Region 4. They lost to T.R. Miller 20-16 in the first round of the playoffs.
—Key graduation losses from 2022 include All-State ATH Jayden Lewis, who signed with Tulane. All-Calhoun County players who graduated included QB Gavin Doss, WR T.K. Downie, DL Greg Fegans, DB Love Kirby and DT Quandriques Elston. WR Jaden Dobbins transferred to Gulf Shores.
—Returning All-Calhoun County picks: sophomore OL Sharontae Bailey, senior DL Khamar Holder, senior LB Jalon McElderry, senior LB Kevionte Johnson and junior defenisve back Dakyus Baker. The Bulldogs return six starters on offense and seven on defense, including junior QB/ATH Damon Pope, senior C Andrew Nelson.
—Players to watch: Running back Jabari Williams, the All-Calhoun County 1A-3A player of the year in 2023, transferred to Anniston from Wellborn. Quarterback Jamorris Young, who played for Saks last year, has moved in and is expected to play as the Bulldogs utilize two quarterbacks.
—A new reclassification cycle has the Bulldogs back in Class 4A North, in Region 6, after two cycles in the South. The Bulldogs align with Alexandria, Ashville, Cherokee County, Etowah, Hokes Bluff, Oneonta and White Plains.
—Joe Medley
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