Franklin County Times

After the 2012-13 basketball season was over Red Bay head varsity boys’ basketball coach Greg Cash decided to resign his coaching duties.

This left Red Bay in need of a new head boys’ coach, and now the players, school and city know who will take over the position.

The new head boys’ coach at Red Bay is Matt Noah, a native of Muscle Shoals who has some years of experience with the sport under his belt.

“I graduated from Muscle Shoals High School,” he said. “I grew up with a dad that was a coach. He ended up being a high school principal.

“Being a coach is something I’ve always known I wanted to do. I saw the impact he had on his players’ lives, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.

“I was blessed enough to have a chance to play college basketball at Arkansas-Little Rock for Wimp Sanderson before playing at Union University.

“After that I played overseas in Germany for one season, and injuries ended my professional playing career. After that I was able to get into coaching.”

Noah may be new to Red Bay and the Tigers’ program, but he is not new to coaching basketball.

“I started my career at Jackson Christian School in Jackson, Tenn.,” he said. “I coached there for two years, after that I moved home.

“I was the head girls’ coach, assistant varsity boys’ coach and head JV boys’ coach at Colbert Heights.

“I was the same position at Deshler for one season, and for the last four years I’ve been at Muscle Shoals as B-team coach and varsity assistant.”

Noah has been a head coach before, but helming a varsity boys’ program is a new experience for him.

“This is my first time to be a head coach for boys’ varsity,” he said. “I was extremely excited about getting the job.

“It was a great opportunity for me to coach against Coach (Donnie) Roberts when I was the girls’ coach at Colbert Heights and see what he has done with that program.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to be the head boys’ coach at Red Bay. The girls’ program expects every year to go to Birmingham, and I want to build the boys’ program towards that.”

Each of the new head football coaches that came into Red Bay last summer had the disadvantage of a short time frame before the beginning of the next season.

Noah has the advantage of being with the program now, some months ahead of the next basketball season.

“I met with the guys, and we’ve had a few practices,” he said. “The main thing I expect out of my team is I want them to be the hardest-working group every night.

“If they will work hard and do what I tell them, that’s all you can ask for as a coach. I’m very excited after meeting the guys and seeing who I have coming up.

“They only have one returning starter, but seeing the guys I have coming up from junior high, I’m excited about it.”

The two greatest obstacles Noah must overcome, as the new boys’ varsity head coach, is the youth and inexperience of his team and the strength of the area in which Red Bay plays.

“We play against Colbert Heights in the area, which has Kaleb Suggs, who in my opinion is one of the best players in the area,” he said.

“He might be THE best player. I know Phil Campbell will do a great job, and with Cherokee it’s a tough area.

“Looking across the region you have Tanner, Hatton and Sheffield sitting there. We’re going to be competitive, and through a lot of hard work I think we have a chance to be successful.”

Despite those obstacles, given the challenges that lay ahead, Noah knows what it will take for his team to be successful.

“That’s something I’ve been talking with the kids about,” he said. “It’s attention to detail.

“Last year when I was the assistant at Muscle Shoals we played Red Bay in a Christmas tournament (at Hatton). It’s going to take attention to detail, doing things right the first time and concentrating.

“A lot of the things Coach (John) Ritter has implemented in football I will in basketball. We worked together at Muscle Shoals, and he and I believe in a lot of the same things.

“I’m going to put in a lot of the same values in basketball that he did in football. We’re going to be the hardest-working and best-conditioned team that’s on the floor.”