Mark O'Bryant steps down from Coosa Christian football, Conquerors announce new hire
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Controversial Coosa Christian football coach Mark O’Bryant is stepping down after five years leading the program.
The Conquerors will turn to offensive coordinator Alaric Williams as their new head coach the school announced on Wednesday. O’Bryant is stepping down to pursue “opportunities outside of coaching” he told the Gadsden Times on Tuesday.
“This is possibly really a once-in-a-lifetime chance at doing something really cool,” O’Bryant said.
The news comes about three months after O’Bryant was reinstated as head football coach after serving a season-long suspension in an effort to appease the AHSAA, which had banned the school from the playoffs for a rules violation. The Conquerors, under Rush Propst, took home the Class 2A state champioinship after O’Bryant’s suspension made them eligible.
O’Bryant went 29-30 over five seasons leading the Conquerors, but that includes nine forfeits from 2023 and 2024. On the field, O’Bryant went 38-21.
O’Bryant’s tenure saw Coosa Chrisian make the first semifinal appearance (2022) and state championship appearance (2023) in school history. In 2024, the program won the school’s first AHSAA region championship, but forfeits of five wins sent them into a tie for last place in their region and out of the playoffs.
O’Bryant took over for the Conquerors in 2020, leading them to a 3-7 record that year and a 4-6 record the next. Back-to-back nine-win campaigns followed before 2025’s 4-6 record that included five forfeits.
Off the field, controversy has followed the Conquerors program. The school was sanctioned by the AHSAA in 2024 for violating the coaching-outside-the-school-year rule. That violation kept them out of the playoffs that year and would have again in 2025 before O’Bryant’s suspension convinced the state high school organization to reinstate Coosa Christian’s playoff eligibility. The program violated the transfer policy in 2023.
With Williams taking over, O’Bryant is happy to see someone who he considered to be like one of his sons take over what he built. At 27, Williams will be one of the youngest coaches in the state. Williams played at Southside and signed at Auburn.
“It’s bittersweet; it wasn’t hard. I feel the Lord has closed a chapter. I’m still going to help Coosa raise money, I’ll still be attached,” O’Bryant said. “Alaric is like my own son, Mindy (O’Bryant) and I helped raise him. To me, it’s pretty cool to see one of your own take the mantle.”
O’Bryant previously coached at Ashville in 2012 and Cleveland from 2009-2010. He holds a career record of 46-46 with four playoff appearances.
Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports, Jax State athletics, the outdoors in Alabama and more for the Gadsden Times and USA TODAY Network. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Mark O’Bryant steps down from Coosa Christian football coach position
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