Chandler nabbed as new football coach at Catholic
Johnathan Chandler is the new head football coach at Catholic after being the offensive coordinator at Pike Road. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Catholic officials moved quickly to replace football coach Kirk Johnson, naming Pike Road offensive coordinator Jonathan Chandler as the Knights’ new football coach on Monday.
Chandler visited with Catholic’s players on Monday morning. He will be formally announced at a press conference at the school on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
“Coach ‘KJ’ (Kirk Johnson) announced (he was leaving for Benjamin Russell) on Monday, I met with Johnathan on Tuesday afternoon and we talked for about three hours,” Catholic athletic director Daniel Veres said. “He came in and met with (Catholic president) Justin (Castanza) on Thursday morning.
“I talked to some other coaches and we had a lot of coaches express interest in the job. I talked to them some and kind of zeroed in on him after having an extensive conversation with him. We didn’t even post the job and I would say 25 or so coaches reached out.”
Chandler, a former Opelika quarterback and assistant coach, served for one season as Granger Shook’s coordinator with the Patriots, helping Pike Road reach the Class 6A semifinals this past season.
“JC did a great job for us this year,” Shook said. “I hate to see him go, but I’m proud of him and what he was able to accomplish here. I’m excited to see his career take off. It’s bittersweet, of course, but he’s earned it and he’s going to do a great job over there. He’s taking over a program that has a good foundation. I look forward to seeing him take the program in a good direction. It’s a compliment to our team and our program that our assistant coaches are getting head coaching opportunities.”
Chandler will continue to work at Pike Road this month, moving to Catholic on a fulltime basis in early March. Shook, meanwhile, must find a replacement at offensive coordinator.
“My phone has been blowing up and I’ve gotten more emails than I’ve gotten in a long time but that’s good,” Shook said. “My hat is off to our team, our players and our staff because this position is highly sought after and it’s not because of me, it’s because of our players.”
Chandler has served 14 years as an assistant at the collegiate and high school levels, but this will be his first head coaching position.
“I had been aspiring to be a head coach,” Chandler said. “Every year, I get asked when is it going to happen. I have been afforded patience. I have been at some really good places. There were a lot of things that had to line up to make this decision comfortable for my family. I’m a believer and I think the Lord was putting things in our path that ultimately led us to Montgomery Catholic.
“Here, the support is second to none from the president, Mr. Castanza, down to Coach Veres, the athletic director. You can tell the community support is there, outside support is present, you can tell that athletics matter here.”
Chandler’s first step is to replace the coaching staff at Catholic. Three of the former assistant coaches took positions at other schools, while the remainder of the staff followed Johnson to Benjamin Russell. One holdover is Catholic baseball coach Chandler Avant, who served as the Knights’ special teams coordinator.
“Obviously, I have a short list of some people that I’ve already been on the phone with, that have already met with me at the school,” Chandler said. “We’re working on some things to get them in place now. And once this (news of his hiring) comes out officially, I’ll have some people that’ll reach out to me that I didn’t even think about. And there are a couple of people here that are staying on board that have helped here in the past.
Chandler was a former Opelika High quarterback for Hall of Fame coach Spence McCracken in 2003-05, leading the Bulldogs to the 6A quarterfinals in 2003 and the 6A semifinals in 2005. He signed with Troy University out of high school and played sparingly as a freshman in 2006, was redshirted in 2007 and was moved to receiver in 2008-10. He remained with the Trojans in 2011 and 2012 as a graduate assistant.
He returned to Opelika High in 2013 as an assistant coach and served nine years for head coaches Brian Blackmon, Caleb Ross and Erik Speakman, the last four as the offensive coordinator. In 2019, he was selected as the 6A assistant coach of the year by the Alabama Football Coaches Association.
He joined the Wetumpka High staff in 2022 and 2023, serving as the offensive coordinator for former Troy teammate Bear Woods. In 2024, he made the move to Pike Road as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, helping head coach Granger Shook lead the team to the 6A semifinals.