FOOTBALL FRIDAY: MA coach McBride building staff ahead of '23 season

New Montgomery Academy coach Ethan McBride has added two more full-time coaches to his staff. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Montgomery Academy football coach Ethan McBride rounded out his coaching staff by adding Brad Parker and Jeremy Banks as full-time assistant coaches.

Parker has served as the offensive line coach at Trinity the past three years and will continue in that role at Montgomery Academy. Banks has served the past several years as linebackers coach at Jeff Davis and will continue in that role at Montgomery Academy.

Parker will fill the role formerly held by Noah Johnson, while Banks will replace former head coach Robert Johnson, who handled the linebackers in addition to his role as head football coach and athletic director.

Parker, who served as head baseball coach at Catholic prior to his time at Trinity, was an offensive coordinator for the Knights as well.

“We’re excited to get him,” McBride said. “He’s going to be co-OC with Coach (Jeremy) Arant. They’re both great people who work together well. That’s why I thought Brad was such a great fit for us. Jeremy will retain play-calling duties, but Brad will be an integral part of that.”

In addition to his role with the football team, McBride said Parker “will help our baseball program out. He will be our athletic performance director, so he’ll basically run the strength program for all sports at MA.”

McBride said several schools in the city had talked with Parker about a job, so he was happy to find a person who could address several needs within the sports program at Montgomery Academy.

“We’re happy that he chose MA,” McBride said, “and think that he’s really going to fit our staff and fit our school.”

Several of the football players were familiar with Banks because of his help this past season with the baseball program. 

“Our kids love him,” McBride said. “He really works well with our kids so when it came time to find a coach, I had so many baseball kids come into my office and tell me I needed to hire him. He knows linebackers inside and out. He’s a young coach that’s eager to learn and eager to grow and I think this will be a really good opportunity for him.”

Former linebackers Arch Lee and Judson Lindsey teamed up to coach the position during the spring.

“Hiring Banks was huge,” McBride said. “He exactly fits the piece that we needed.”

McBride was just as happy with the return of veteran assistant Steve Holloway, who missed all of 2022 with medical issues. Holloway, a Jeff Davis graduate and former NFL tight end, served as a head coach at Sidney Lanier in 2008-09 and coached the Lady Poets to a girls’ basketball state championship. 

Holloway and his son Waynnon, community coaches who have helped the MA program through its last three coaches, generally assist with the offensive line and with tight ends. 

McBride said both will handle receivers, tight ends and H-backs. 

“Offensively, as we continue to figure out what we’re going to do, having somebody like Steve that has so many years of experience and has run several different offensive styles is just invaluable,” McBride said. “It’s a true coming together of a bunch of different minds with a lot of years of experience. And then just having somebody like Steve that has that veteran presence, I’m a young coach so any time I have a question about anything, he knows it. He’s been there and done that.”