SYLACAUGA — Ten years ago, John Blackmon returned home to the place where he first played high school football. Today, he is returning to the area where he first was a head coach.
Blackmon has been named head coach at Jackson High School, not far from he made his introduction to the coaching world at Leroy.
Blackmon used Tuesday, the first day back at school for students, to say goodbye to his players and co-workers before heading South. He called the day an emotional one as a decade of his life came to a close.
"I told the kids life is like a book," he said. "For me, this is just another chapter in my life."
The shift to Jackson will be a daunting task for Blackmon. Jackson, also nicknamed the Aggies, is coming off a one-win season. The Aggies’ only victory was over upstart Gulf Shores. Blackmon replaces Eddie Brundidge, the first black head football coach in Clarke County since integration.
Jackson is a Class 4A school. In the past the Aggies were in Class 5A, but with the restructuring of Class 6A to only the 50 largest schools, Jackson was bumped down in classification.
Blackmon is one year removed from Talladega County Coach of the Year honors, but this season failed to make the playoffs. Sylacauga will be making yet another move in regional play next season into a region filled with stiff competition. The Aggies will battle for a playoff spot in the 2004 season against the likes of Benjamin Russell, Homewood and Briarwood Christian. One of those three teams has won a state football championship for the past four years.
"The hardest part of this decision was leaving behind a bunch of good players, good coaches and a lot of good friends," Blackmon said. "It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life.
"We just felt like this was the right decision for us right now."
Some coaches shy away from a move that takes them back to their hometown; Blackmon didn’t. He embraced the opportunity to return to his alma mater and renew old relationships. In his 10 years spent with the Aggies, Blackmon estimates he coached approximately 500 players and he said he feels a bond with every one.
"I coached a lot of great young men here at Sylacauga," he said. "Sylacauga is a great place with high academic standards and we tried to carry those standards over to the football field.
"What made this job easy was we didn’t have to teach things like discipline — they already knew that. That teaching started at home. All we had to do was reinforce it."
Blackmon indicated that he feels Sylacauga is left in good hands. The assistants will continue to handle workouts — the Aggies’ normal offseason routine — until spring practice. He feels like a new coach could be in place by then.
Whether more coaches will make the move with Blackmon right now is uncertain. At this time it is not known how many positions he will have to bring in new coaches. He also said he didn’t know how many would be willing to uproot their families for the nearly four-hour move.
What Blackmon will be taking with him in his journey to Jackson is a formula he says aided in the overall success at Sylacauga.
"From the football players to the band to the cheerleaders, we tried to make this one big family," he said. "It was where everybody had an investment into the success of failure of this football team.
"I hope I can carry that same thing over in Jackson."
