Ronnie Cottrell hired as T.R. Miller’s head coach

 

By JIMMY WIGFIELD

Ronnie Cottrell was hired as T.R. Miller’s new head football coach on Tuesday, marrying the state’s all-time winningest high school football program with one of the state’s top coaches of the last decade.

Cottrell, 66, a 1977 T.R. Miller graduate, was approved as the Tigers’ coach Tuesday evening by the Brewton City School District Board. He replaces Brent Hubbert, who retired after going 58-18 in six years.

“It’s very exciting to be involved in a program like T.R. Miller,” Cottrell said. “I was honored to have played there. I’ve coached there as an assistant coach. And now to be here is just amazing. There’s a huge tradition of great coaches and great players here, just a phenomenal history of success, and I want to continue to build on what coach Hubbert did.”

Cottrell was also appointed as T.R. Miller’s athletic director, according to the Brewton City Schools.

“A distinguished alumnus and former player, coach Cottrell brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record of success to his alma mater,” the school system said in a statement. “His dedication to developing young athletes both on and off the field has earned him widespread respect in the coaching community.”

Cottrell’s hiring marks his return to Alabama high school football after one season as the head coach of Lighthouse Christian College’s startup program in Pensacola, where he led the Makos to an 8-1 finish in 2024.

T.R. Miller has 738 victories in 100 seasons and six state championships, four by Jamie Riggs, but the last one came in 2002 — an interminable gap for the program with the most all-time victories in Alabama High School Athletic Association history.

“I’m pretty sure our fans probably remind everybody about that void,” Cottrell said. “But I do know that it’s a tradition of success here. When you think of Brewton, you think of T.R. Miller High School. I think it requires a lot of preparation. It’s a journey to win a championship. So, what we want to do is prepare for that journey and set our goals high. Certainly, that’s the goal here, to be participating in the playoffs and in Super 7s.”

Due to his emotional connection to Brewton and his alma mater, Cottrell said he wants T.R. Miller to be his final coaching stop.

“I would like for it to be my last one,” he said. “But I’m just thankful to be able to do it and to be given the opportunity. Now, I would hope I could do it 10 more years. We’ll just see what happens.”

Cottrell played for the Tigers in the mid-1970s under coach Frank Cotten, one of the titans of the T.R. Miller tradition who had a winning percentage of .700 or better.

Riggs is the Tigers’ winningest coach with a record of 293-62 (.825) and four Blue Maps. Hubbert (.763), Cotten (.738) and Mack Wood (.708) were also above .700. Wood in 1969 and Mike Sasser (.690) in 1984 won the school’s other state championships. T.R. Miller has 30 seasons of 10 wins or more.

“Very early on, I was around a lot of outstanding coaches,” Cottrell said. “Coach Cotten, he’s the reason I’m coaching. He was such a role model and I chose this career because of him. But there’s many coaches that have been here that have really been successful.”

Cottrell has enjoyed success nearly everywhere he has been, including serving as Florida State’s recruiting coordinator under Bobby Bowden. Cottrell has been credited as the architect of the Seminoles’ dynasty of the 1990s, recruiting and signing such all-time greats as Warrick Dunn, Derrick Brooks, Peter Boulware, Peter Warrick, Sebastian Janikowski and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Chris Weinke.

Cottrell served as Alabama’s recruiting coordinator under Mike DuBose from 1998-2000.

Cottrell has also been the head coach at Kinston, Flomaton, W.S. Neal, Carroll of Ozark, Alma Bryant and Chickasaw, going 138-86 in 19 seasons in Alabama. He won a Florida state championship at Godby High in Tallahassee in 2012.

At Mobile Christian, Cottrell went 75-29 in eight years with three appearances in the Super 7, culminated by a 15-0 finish and the Class 3A state championship in 2023. Cottrell was 61-21 in six seasons in Class 3A and returns to the classification with T.R. Miller.

The Leopards reached the playoffs every year Cottrell was their coach, going 21-8 in the postseason, 48-11 in region play and winning three region championships. Cottrell coached 43 All-State players at Mobile Christian.

Cottrell began his coaching career in 1980 as an assistant at his alma mater under Cotten. He was also an assistant coach at Troy State in 1981 and 1982 before getting his first head coach’s job at Kinston in 1983.

(This story will be updated.)