THE RETURN: Blackwell back at Catholic with AHSAA issues hanging overhead
Aubrey Blackwell returns to Catholic as the head football coach with the idea that the Knights will be classified in 6A beginning next fall. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
When football coach Aubrey Blackwell took his place at the podium for an introductory press conference at Catholic on Tuesday, he said all the right things about the leadership of the school and the values of the Catholic community in building future leaders within the athletic program.
The one thing he couldn’t answer with clarity is the future direction of the football program.
Catholic officials and coaches await the classification proposal that will be released by the Alabama High School Athletic Association on Friday, uncertain whether the school will be moved up to Class 6A by Competitive Balance Factor, moved to a different classification for private schools or some other proposal that will shove the football program into uncharted waters.
“It’s going to take hard work,” Blackwell said. “We don’t know what the future holds from the AHSAA and their decisions, but we’re going to meet everyone of them, whatever they decide, head on, fearing nothing because that’s who we are.”
Blackwell said he planned to retain the coaching staff hired by former coach Jonathan Chandler, which included defensive coordinator Patrick Plott, offensive assistant Trey Dunbar, running backs coach Kavosiey Smoke and defensive line coach Marcus Dees, among others. Former offensive coordinator Shuler Bentley took a head coaching position in his native South Carolina, but Blackwell, who calls his own plays, plans to make changes in the offensive system.
“I’m excited about continuing to work with the staff that’s already in place,” Blackwell said. “We have great men here. We’ll be adding the guys we need.”
He met with the players on Tuesday morning and plans to finish up work as a Spanish Fort assistant coach by the middle of next week and take over his new duties at Catholic. And even as he hits the ground running, he will be waiting for the AHSAA classification ruling on Friday.
If the organization retains Ciompetitive Balance Factor, Catholic will be one of three football programs elevated to a new classification, with the Knights moving to 6A, Mars Hill Bible moving to 4A and Tuscaloosa Academy moving to 3A.
“It’s going to be really challenging,” Blackwell said. “We may be one of only a handful in the whole state that will have 50 kids and playing in 6A. Playing in the Region (1 at Spaniush Fort) that we just got through playing in, it would be really hard with the amount (of players on opposing teams), just the sheer number. Especially when you’re trying to do right by all of them, that you carry a JV schedule, because those sophomores and ninth graders deserve to play too. But if they’re all having to contribute on Friday night, you don’t want to put them at risk.”
It presents a litigation issue that other state organizations have fought and lost, so AHSAA officials are almost certain to ditch the failing program. Another possibility is to break out the private schools and put them in their own classification, but with Catholic ranking among the top 12 private schools in 2024-26 enrollment, the Knights likely would find themselves in a region that includes teams with nearly twice the enrollment.
“We will have challenges,” Blackwell said. “It’s not the challenges that you face, it’s how is your team prepared to handle it. That’s my biggest role.”
When Blackwell took over the program in 2015, he had just 45 players. Two years later, that participation number was in the low 60s, but that was playing in Class 3A.
His first season resulted in the Knights’ seventh consecutive losing season. By 2016, Catholic defeated Trinity and Alabama Christian on the way to an 8-3 season and a playoff berth. A year later, a win over St. James led to a 4A Region 2 championship, the first since regions replaced areas in 2000.
Along the way, he continued to build Catholic into a winner, reaching the 2020 Class 3A finals in Tuscaloosa with 62 players.
Now, there’s a new challenge. And while Blackwell has plans for hiring new assistants and organizing spring practice and arranging a spring jamboree, he is anxiously awaiting Friday’s proposal and the additional challenges it may bring.
“The things we can control, we’ll control,” Blackwell said. “We’ll get our boys as ready to go as possible.”