BREAKING: Blackwell leaves Catholic for Ben Russell

After leading the Catholic Knights to their best finish in school history including a trip to the Super 7, Aubrey Blackwell has accepted the head coaching position at Benjamin Russell High School in Alex City. (FILE PHOTO)

By TIM GAYLE

After six years of transforming Catholic football into a program that can challenge for state championships, Aubrey Blackwell has decided to accept a new challenge.

The Montgomery native has accepted a job as the head coach at Benjamin Russell, ending the most successful six years in the history of the Catholic program that included a trip to the 3A championship game earlier this month.

“It is with a heavy heart that we share today our head football and baseball coach, Aubrey Blackwell, has accepted the position as head football coach at Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City (pending board approval Wednesday night),” the school said in a release to parents. “While we are sad for ourselves and our Montgomery Catholic community, we are happy for Coach Blackwell and his family.”

Blackwell, in the same release, thanked the school for taking a chance on a longtime assistant coach who had never held a head coaching position before arriving at Catholic in 2015.

“It has been the best honor of my life to be the head football coach at Montgomery Catholic for the last six years,” he said. “You embraced me and my family with open arms and gave us the best support we could ever have asked for. We set out on a task that many deemed impossible and we found many successes on and off the field. Montgomery Catholic will always hold a special place in my heart and the people here are what make this place such a blessing. Brandi, Will, Kayla, and I have so many dear friends that made this time so rewarding and we are so grateful for each of you.”

Blackwell broke into the coaching profession under St. James coach Jimmy Perry, his high school coach at Robert E. Lee, first as an assistant at St. Paul’s Episcopal, then at St. James.

“He’s been wanting to get to a big school and he’s had great success there at Catholic,” Perry said. “He’s done a fantastic job for them, but he wants to coach at a bigger school and take on another challenge. He’s done all he can do, taken them to a state championship game, and now he’s looking for another challenge. That’s what winners do.”

When he took the job at Catholic, he inherited a program that had just two winning seasons in the pervious 19 years. After going 4-6 in 2015, he guided the Knights to an 8-3 record and a berth in the state playoffs, their first since 2008.

In the last four years, Catholic has won 42 out of 52 games, captured three region championships and advanced to the playoffs each year, reaching the quarterfinals in 2019 and the Super 7 Championships in 2020. His overtime victory against Montgomery Academy in the semifinals provided him with his 54th win (54-19), tying him with Cliff Little as the school’s winningest coach. Little coached the Knights in 1967-73, compiling a 31-38-2 record, then returned in 1981-85, going 23-23-2 in that span.  

“I would like to thank Coach Blackwell for all he has meant to Montgomery Catholic over the last six years,” Catholic athletic director Daniel Veres said in the release. “Everyone knows he is a fantastic football coach, but beyond that, he is the kind of man every single parent in this world would want to mentor their student. He is a great man, a great coach, and a great friend. I wish him all the best in the next step in his coaching journey.”