Ending 19-year career as Flomaton coach
Flomaton head football coach Doug Vickery has announced he will be retiring at the end of the year and Flomaton Principal Mark Harbison said he hopes to have a new football coach named by mid-January.
At the conclusion of last Wednesday’s football banquet at Hidden Falls in Flomaton, Coach Vickery announced he was retiring. There were hugs and some tears between the coach and his players.
“This has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Vickery said.
Vickery, 55, has 31 years in the Alabama public school system with the past 19 years serving as the head football coach and athletic director at Flomaton High School.
Flomaton Principal Mark Harbison said he will fill the head football coaching position as soon as possible.
Vickery said there were a lot of reasons that went into his decision to retire, but said after meeting with his family he felt financially it would be best for his family. Vickery said he doesn’t know what’s next for him but he wants to continue working, but is not sure where.
“Financially it will be a blessing for my family,” Vickery added.
Vickery said he has developed a lot of relationships during his years in Flomaton with players, coaches and members of the community.
“When you’ve been somewhere two decades, you build relationships that are life-lasting with assistant coaches and more importantly with the players,” he said. “When I came here my goal was to change the culture and build a brotherhood on the football team.”
Vickery led the Hurricanes to the 2018 state championship but said it was more about the players and the assistant coaches.
“Obviously I’ve been blessed with so much success due to great players and great assistant coaches,” Vickery said.
He said when David Cutcliff came to Flomaton to recruit Daquan Johnson he told him that when you get older the players you recruited and coached then become your friends.
“It’s all about the relationships you develop along the way,” Vickery said.
Vickery said he had a special appreciation for his wife Leah, who served as his unpaid secretary with support on and off the field, noting being a football coach brings challenges to a family.
He said the support of his sons Tripp, Cade and Zeb and his daughter Avery was also important.
He said it was an honor to coach his three sons and an honor for them to play football for him.
“I have so many special memories with them,” Vickery said.
Vickery started to name people who helped him along his journey in Flomaton, saying he knew he would probably leave someone out, but said it started with FHS Principal Scott Hammond and Superintendent Buck Powell hiring him and taking a chance on him in the first place.
He called out assistants coaches Scott Robinson, Keith Nall, Karl Smith, Leroy Steele, Curt Bell and Wes Sessions.
“I’m sure I’m leaving a few out, but these guys really helped me and the football team,” Vickery said.
He also gave a big shoutout to former Century Blackcat Steve Stanton who became a big Hurricane fan.
“If there was anything I needed or the players needed, Steve Stanton made sure we got it,” Vickery said. “Steve was my go-to man and I really appreciate him.”
But Vickery said the most praise and appreciation goes to the players he’s coached over the years.
“They are the reasons I did it,” Vickery said of his players. “I was hard on them, sometimes I’d get mad, sometimes they’d get mad but those memories we’ve had will last a lifetime.”
“We used a slogan recently that was ‘Built Different’ and that was my goal when I got here,” Vickery said. “I love my players and will continue to love and pray for them. I may be leaving, but I will always bleed green.”
