Jackson named RHS coach
New Russellville High School football coach Michael Jackson, left, talks with RHS principal Dr. Tim Guinn Tuesday. | Jonathan Willis/FCT
A former Russellville High School football player and assistant coach will be returning home.
City school board members voted Tuesday afternoon to hire Buckhorn head coach Michael Jackson as the school’s new head football coach.
Jackson, a 1987 RHS graduate, replaces former coach Doug Goodwin, who left after four seasons to become head coach at Homewood.
Jackson was an assistant coach at Russellville from 1992 to 2001. He accepted the head coaching position at Buckhorn before the 2002 season and quickly turned that struggling program around.
During his time there, the Bucks became one of the most successful programs in the Huntsville/Madison County area. His 2004 team lost to Russellville in the third round of the state playoffs and then beat the Golden Tigers in the 2005 state semi-finals. That trip to the 5A state title game is the only appearance in the Super Six by a Madison County football team.
Jackson served as an assistant coach at Russellville under former coach and outgoing superintendent Don Cox, and former head coaches Ted Ikerd and Perry Swindall.
“He is someone who knows about our past and our tradition and he loves it,” Cox said. “He was a product of this program and then went on to become a successful head coach. He has always been a hard worker and he has a great passion for the game of football and for the Golden Tiger program. I think he will do a great job continuing the tradition of excellence that people have come to expect.”
Rex Mayfield, who has been tabbed to become the system’s new superintendent on April 1, said Jackson became the clear choice though several outstanding candidates applied for the position.
“He is someone that the kids will enjoy playing for and they will learn from him,” Mayfield said. “He is a hard worker and he loves this community and the school. He has been successful at Buckhorn even though they are one of the smallest 6A schools.”
The search committee of Cox, Mayfield, RHS principal Dr. Tim Guinn and middle school principal Frankie Hammock recommended Jackson after interviewing West Point, Miss., head coach Chris Chambless, who has led his team to back-to-back 5A state championships, Etowah head coach and former college assistant and head coach Sam McCorkle and North Carolina’s Mike Newsome, who has guided Butler High School to back-to-back state titles and who was named the 2009 MaxPreps National Coach of the Year.
Jackson becomes the first Russellville graduate to lead the Golden Tigers’ program.
“I want to thank the board and administration for giving me the opportunity to come home to one of the best athletic programs in the state of Alabama,” Jackson said.
“When you’re from a place like Russellville where the community and the school support are so close, you always look for that feeling again. I have been working to get better so I would have an opportunity to return here one day. So this means a lot to me. Talking to my players at Buckhorn and letting them know that I was leaving was one of the most emotional things I have ever had to do.
“I don’t believe I could have gotten through that except for knowing that I was coming back to Russellville.”
Jackson said he hopes to complete his staff quickly and conduct spring training in May.
