Montgomery Catholic hires Aubrey Blackwell as new head football coach
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Just two days after former Montgomery Catholic coach Jonathan Chandler was announced as the new head football coach for Opelika, the search for a new football coach for the Knights was short lived.
Montgomery Catholic is expected to hire Aubrey Blackwell as its new head football coach the school announced on Friday, Jan. 9, through the school’s official website.
“Aubrey Blackwell is not just a familiar face and a tremendous football coach, but he is also the man responsible for launching the program he returns to lead. This is a beautiful homecoming in every way. Aubrey and his family will come home to Montgomery Catholic and continue what he and Daniel Veres started. Championship play became a Montgomery Catholic standard under his leadership, and that is exactly what we are excited to continue,” Montgomery Catholic President Justin Castanza said in the release.
Blackwell is a familiar face to Montgomery Catholic’s football program after coaching the Knights from 2015-2020 in what was his first head coaching stint.
“Ecstatic to be able to bring coach Blackwell and his family ‘home’. Aubrey (Blackwell), coach (Kirk) Johnson and myself are the architects of this program and we are excited to be going back to our roots,” Montgomery Catholic athletic director Daniel Veres told the Montgomery Advertiser.
Blackwell was the first head football coach Veres hired 11 years ago, since, Montgomery Catholic has only missed the playoffs once and won the state title twice.
After a 4-6 season in his first year with the Knights, Blackwell turned the program in the right direction in 2016 and beyond. In 2016, Blackwell led the Montgomery Catholic to an 8-3 record and its first playoff appearance in eight years. In 2017 and 2018, the Knights advanced to the second round of playoffs and in 2019 made it to the quarterfinal round before finally reaching the state title in 2020.
During his time with Montgomery Catholic, Blackwell compiled a 54-19 record.
Blackwell’s other head coaching stints include stops at Benjamin Russell, Jackson Academy in Mississippi and most recently at St. James in 2024. Most recently, Blackwell was the offensive coordinator at Spanish Fort, where the Toros averaged 412.8 yards per game and averaged 27.8 points per game.
Blackwell’s return to Montgomery Catholic comes after Chandler led the Knights to an 8-5 record and appearance in the quarterfinal round of the AHSAA football playoffs.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Aubrey Blackwell returns as Montgomery Catholic football’s head coach
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