New blue hue
- Updated: March 13, 2025
Latest hirings make it four assistant football coaches who will follow Smith from Jacksonville to White Plains. Edwards will also coach Wildcats’ baseball team.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
Clint Smith’s White Plains football coaching staff is filling out, and it will look a lot like his Jacksonville staff. Just royal blue instead of navy blue.
The Calhoun County Board of Education approved hirings on Thursday, and Smith’s staff will include four that coached with him at Jacksonville and two that also coached with him at Saks.
Thursday’s hirings include long-time offensive coordinator Jamison Edwards, who served as Smith’s offensive coordinator at Saks and Jacksonville. Edwards will serve as Smith’s offensive coordinator at White Plains.
Starting in 2026, Edwards will also serve as White Plains’ head baseball coach, another job he holds at Jacksonville.
Thursday’s hirings become the latest dominos to fall in chain-reaction coaching moves around Calhoun County. Chris Findley resigned as Ohatchee’s head football coach to follow his wife’s career move to Texas, and Blake Jennings was hired to replace him at Ohatchee after spending the last two seasons as White Plains’ head coach in football and baseball.
Smith, who completed his 13th season at Jacksonville in November, was hired to replace Jennings as White Plains’ head football coach.
Jennings and Edwards will finish the 2025 seasons with their current baseball teams. Jennings will coach only football at Ohatchee.
Edwards’ move to once again follow Smith also indicates direction for Jacksonville’s search for a head football coach. Jacksonville appears likely to hire from outside.
Smith’s White Plains staff will also include defensive coordinator Marcus Albright and assistant Darren Mitchell, who were hired when Smith was hired, on Feb. 20.
Smith also tapped one of the state’s most respected offensive-line coaches in Mike Bennefield, who coached with Bill Clark at Prattville High School, Jacksonville State University and Alabama-Birmingham.
As with Edwards, Albright, Mitchell and Josh Blythe will follow Smith from Jacksonville. Blythe will serve as an assistant coach in football and baseball, matching his roles at Jacksonville.
White Plains also hired Dylan Randall as an assistant coach in football and basketball. He’s long-time White Plains boys’ basketball coach Chris Randall’s son.
“All of these guys are not only great coaches, but they are great men, husbands, and fathers, and will pour into the lives of the young men at White Plains,” Smith said. “I’m truly blessed to have them on my staff. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys.”
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