Goodwin to be named next RHS coach

By Staff
Mike Self, Franklin County Times
The Demopolis Times reported on its website Tuesday that Demopolis High School head football coach Doug Goodwin has unofficially accepted an offer to become head coach at Russellville.
Russellville City Schools superintendent Dr. Wayne Ray did not immediately return calls seeking comment, but the school board is expected to make Goodwin's hiring official at Thursday's regular meeting.
Demopolis principal Dr. Isaac Espy confirmed Goodwin's hiring in an interview with the Demopolis Times on Monday.
"I haven't gotten an official word and we will meet in the morning, but by all reports Coach Goodwin has been offered a job at Russellville High School," Espy said. "He's a deserving individual. It is probably one of the top five to ten most attractive football coaching jobs in the state. They love football in Russellville, and they put a lot of money into it. They offer a competitive salary, which allows them to attract quality candidates."
The Russellville job became available six weeks ago when Perry Swindall resigned after nine seasons as head coach.
Swindall's career record at Russellville was 99-21, and Goodwin has enjoyed similar success at Demopolis. He guided the Tigers to an 81-18 record during his eight-year tenure, which included a Class 4A state championship in 2004.
Goodwin, a graduate of Auburn University, has compiled an overall career record of 170-67 with 15 playoff appearances in 18 years as a head coach.
The move to Russellville will put Goodwin much closer to his two sons, Dusty, who plays football at the University of North Alabama in Florence, and Devin, who plays football and baseball at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS.
In related coaching news, Swindall confirmed on Tuesday that he has accepted an offer to become defensive coordinator at Spain Park High School in Hoover.
"I'm excited about the newness of the situation," said Swindall, who will officially begin his tenure at Spain Park next Monday. "The school is only about five years old, and the program is still searching for an identity while competing with another school in the district [Hoover] that has obviously been very successful. I'm looking forward to being involved with a program in the early stages like this, and I'm excited about having the chance to make an impact on kids."
Swindall spent most of his time at Russellville working with the offense, but he said he anticipates no trouble making the transition to defense.
"I was a defensive coordinator my first six years in coaching, five as an assistant and one as a head coach," he said. "As head coach at Russellville I was involved with both sides of the ball, even though it may have been a little behind the scenes on defense. As an offensive coach, you have to understand what defenses are doing if you want to be able to beat them."
Swindall will be part of a large staff at Spain Park, a Class 6A school with roughly 1,000 students in grades 9-12.
"We'll have six coaches on the defensive staff alone," Swindall said. "They're young and enthusiastic, and I'm looking forward to helping them build on what they've already got going, which is pretty good."
Swindall has two sons, Evan, a sophomore who started at center for Russellville last season, and Joseph, who is in middle school.
"Spain Park is a great place for my kids to go to school," Swindall said.