BROTHER VS. BROTHER: Baker boys meet for first time as head coaches
Edgewood Academy and coach Gregg Baker face off against Hooper Academy on Thursday with brother Dusty leading the Colts. (Graham Dunn)
By TIM GAYLE
It’s a game with huge playoff implications, but when Hooper Academy travels to Elmore tonight to play Edgewood Academy, there will be bragging rights on the line as well.
Not for the players, but for the head coaches, two brothers who have been coaching for years but haven’t stood on opposing sidelines for nearly 30 years.
Tonight, Edgewood Academy coach Gregg Baker and Hooper Academy coach Dusty Baker will be across the field from each other as high school head coaches for the first time ever.
And caught in the middle of the war will be Marilyn Baker, the mother of the head coaches.
“I don’t think she’ll choose sides,” Dusty said, “but I’ve got to be careful of what I say because she may read it.”
The pair faced each other in the late 1990s when Dusty and his brother Marty were at Brewbaker Junior High and Gregg was the head coach at Georgia Washington Jr. High.
“When I was at Georgia Washington and they were both at Brewbaker, we played two years in a row,” Gregg said, “but that’s the only time we’ve all played against each other.”
“We’ve had one (meeting) before at the junior high level, but it was a long time ago,” Dusty said. “It’s going to be something interesting. I think both teams will be a little amped up for it just because of who’s involved. I’m looking forward to it.”
After that meeting, Dusty would remain at Brewbaker over the next two decades while Gregg would become the head coach at Alabama Christian Academy (2006-07), at Faulkner University (2009-11), at Catholic (2013-14) and at Highland Home (2015-16) before becoming an assistant at Wetumpka for five years and a head coach at Redland Middle School over the next four years.
Dusty served as an assistant at Hooper under Marty before becoming the head coach in 2025. This season, Gregg got back into the high school ranks at Edgewood Academy, setting the stage for tonight’s meeting pitting Gregg against brothers Dusty and Marty.
“I think the person who gets put in a bind the most is my mom,” Gregg said. “I remember both years (of the previous meeting) she sat in the end zone at both places with shakers for both teams, one in each hand. She’s the one who gets torn by it all. But there’s definitely some bragging rights on it. I don’t want to hear them for a whole year and I’m sure they don’t want to hear me for a whole year.”
The brothers will downplay the meeting in front of their players tonight, but Dusty still remembers every detail of the previous meeting between the pair.
“Marty and I were both together at Brewbaker and Gregg was at Georgia Washington and whoever won that game was going to play for the city championship,” Dusty said. “It got late in the fourth quarter and they took the lead with about two minutes left and kicked off to us and we proceeded to go right down the field on them and score, so we ended up beating them.
“I know he has that in the back of his mind, even if he didn’t say it.”
Both teams are currently tied for third place in the Region 1 standings with two region games remaining after tonight’s matchup. The winner will be in the driver’s seat for a top four finish, which ensures those teams qualify for the Class AAA playoffs.
Dusty will have his brother Marty serving as his assistant, providing some incentive in the family matchup. Gregg will have his own incentive, playing the game on his birthday.
“It would be a great birthday present,” he admitted, “because my wife has already told me if we lose, not to come home.”