By Staff
Committee narrows prospects to three; new HHS head football coach on the horizon
Nick Johnston, Hartselle Enquirer
It's down to three, who will it be?
Robert Godsey, Samuel McCorkle and Dale Jeffreys – One of the three will be the next head football coach at Hartselle High School, as recommended by a search committee of five.
Prospective coaches had until the beginning of this month to send in resumes. According to a source, the committee, comprised of Kevin Corum, Mike Chenault, Johnny Jones, Tanya Lybarger and Jamie Roden, narrowed down a field of "10 to 12" to the three remaining.
The McCorkle file…
Samuel Blaine McCorkle III has coached on most levels and made many contacts during his 29 years of coaching.
Listed under his professional references are former LSU head coach Gerry DiNardo, Florida State University assistant football coach Mickey Andrews and Mike Tolleson, assistant football coach at the University of Texas among others.
McCorkle was fired from his last job as head coach of the University of Tennessee-Martin, an NCAA Division 1-AA school.
He coached the Skyhawks from 2000-2002.
He served as offensive coordinator at Mississippi Delta CC from 1997-1999, was head football coach at Tate High School in Florida from 1994-1996 and spent one year at Austin Peay State University prior to that.
His longest stint as head coach was for Livingston University (West Alabama). A graduate from the school, McCorkle served as head football coach from 1985-1990. It was his only stop in his coaching career that lasted more than two years.
McCorkle also has made stops at the University of Kentucky, Vanderbilt University, Ole Miss, North Texas State University, Cordova HS, Etowah HS, Minor HS and Talladega HS.
As a player at Livingston, he lettered three years and was awarded the Most Dedicated Player Award.
He was placed on the All-Alabama Small College Team in 1971 and 1972 and was a member of the national championship team in 1971.
A Mississippi high school standout, McCorkle, who is now 57, won two state championships.
The Godsey file…
Robert S. (Bob) Godsey is very familiar with the area.
Godsey spent eight years as an assistant football coach, seven years as baseball head coach and one year as assistant basketball coach at Decatur High School before leaving for Brooks High School.
Godsey's time at Brooks has been impressive. He has led Brooks to a 42-15 record in five years, won 11 games in 2000 and 2001 and a quarterfinals appearance.
In 2000, Brooks ranked in the top 10 (all classifications) in nearly every offensive category. The following year, Godsey and his Brooks team was the No. 1 scoring defense in Class 4A.
Godsey's resume spells out success, as his Decatur High baseball team won 104 games from 1995-1998. His 1997 team broke the school record for wins with 29.
As an assistant football coach, Godsey won 54 games and advanced to the playoffs four times. During that stretch, Decatur won four Area Championships.
Godsey graduated from Wilson High School in Florence and went to Troy State. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Education before leaving for UNA. He received his Master of Arts in Education there before getting another Masters at Jacksonville State University.
Godsey is 36 years old.
The Jeffreys file…
Dale Jeffreys is the only candidate with any Hartselle ties.
Jeffreys spent time on the Hartselle High School coaching staff for seven years in the
See JEFFREYS, B-3
early 1990's.
Jeffreys, who currently is the head coach at Class 2A Red Bay, just completed his 17th year of coaching. He was an assistant at Colbert County, Andalusia and Hartselle before moving to Red Bay.
*No further information was available on Jeffreys at press time. See future editions for comments from new coach.