A weekly look at high school sports in the state of Alabama for the past week and a look ahead to what is on tap. This is an opinion piece (sort of).

It didnt work out for Greg Crager as head football coach at Thomasville High School.

He was among a mass of employees pink-slipped at the end of the school year. He could re-apply for a job there, but he wont.

You can tell when you are wanted and when you are not, Crager said.

He coached just one year at Thomasville after replacing long-time coach Jack Hankins.

The Tigers went 5-6 overall, beating rival and eventual state champion Clarke County 15-14 in overtime to end the regular season before losing at Hillcrest-Evergreen in the first round of the playoffs.

There were off-the-field challenges almost from Day 1. Those only intensified when the athletic director, principal and superintendent, who played big roles in hiring Crager away from Millry, all left.

I dont know enough about the situation to get into Thomasville politics, so I wont.

What I will say is that Greg Crager is a good man, the best kind in fact. He will land on his feet and, whatever school he lands at, will be better for having him.

It didnt work out at Thomasville long-term, but Im guessing that his one year there will still have a long-term impact on many of those student-athletes.

My biggest take away is that I was proud of re-starting the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), he said. Every Friday, we had a cafeteria full of young people wanting to do positive things throughout the school and the campus. That was the highlight.

As many challenges as there were, I felt good about that fact that we were really impacting young people and leading in the right direction and trying to establish a good foundation. We hired some great people and great men who led the right way. Im proud of that.

Crager started the difficult days at Thomasville the way he starts every day.

Every morning when you get up and face the challenges, you pray, he said. I felt like God gave me certain scriptures that kept me going. Whatever is happening in life, God is in it, and He will lead you through it. I never panicked or lost my composure.

Sometimes people have different goals or want to go a different direction. Regardless, God has a purpose, and you continue to be obedient to that. I want to hear His voice and do what He wants me to do.

Crager, vacationing in San Antonio this week, said he had several interviews set up later this month and will likely take an assistant job for next year before trying his hand again at being a head coach.

He went 32-24 in five years as head coach at Millry. Hes also been a key part of Mark Freemans staffs at both Spanish Fort and Thompson.

I tell my coaches all the time, When you go through tough times, that is your testimony, he said. It is then now for me that my testimony is more visible than when everything is going well and you are winning state championships. At the end of the day, in the good and the bad, I want to glorify God.

The next door will fly open soon for Crager.

Undeterred by an experience he didnt expect in the last year, he will step through it and continue to impact our student-athletes in the best ways possible.

New coach at Glencoe

Glencoe has named Scott Martin as its new head football coach.

Martin won 57 games in seven seasons at Ohatchee from 2014-2020. That included a run to the 3A state semifinals in 2016 and two trips to the quarterfinals.

He also spent two years as head coach at Calera (2009-2010) and Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa (2012-2013).

Martin will try to turn around a Yellow Jacket program that has been in a rough patch. Glencoe has won just 10 of its last 60 games. Martin is the fourth coach since former Alabama player Lee Ozmint left in 2015.

The 2021 team went just 1-9 and gave up 395 points.

Not so fast

Earlier in the week, it looked like Murphy had a new football coach.

The Panthers have been looking to replace Rico Jackson, who left for Tarrant earlier in the spring.

Murphy social media accounts announced that Kevin Schultz had been named the new head coach. However, that post since has been taken down.

Officials have said the post was premature and the school is now in a holding pattern.

Comeback kid?

According to Ron Balaskovitz of the Sand Mountain Reporter, Dale Pruitt is returning as head football coach at Plainview for the third time.

Pruitt coached the Bears from 1984-2000, going 147-59 in that span, and from 2006-2014, going 67-35.

He also was head coach at Albertville from 2015-2018.

Pruitt replaces Nick Ledbetter.

Other coaching news:

Former Dothan and Park Crossing head coach Smitty Grider has been named head coach at Benjamin Russell. He follows Aubrey Blackwell.

On Monday, Pike Liberal Arts announced the hiring of veteran coach Hugh Fountain. PLA moves from the AISA to the AHSAA this fall, thought it wont be eligible for the playoffs for two more years.

Ty Lockett has replaced L.C. Cole as head coach at Park Crossing.

Tyler Johnson is the new head coach at New Hope.

Current head coaching openings include Eufaula, Williamson, Murphy, Sidney Lanier, Marengo, Escambia County, Sardis, Houston County.

Montgomery Catholic head coach Kirk Johnson works with his players during the Trinity at Montgomery Catholic high-school football game, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, in McCalla, Ala. (Vasha Hunt | preps.al.com)Vasha Hunt

Awards season

Congratulations to Montgomery Catholic football coach Kirk Johnson, who has been named Huntingdon Colleges Outstanding Young Alumni.

Johnson is one of two winners of the award this year.

He will be honored during Huntingdons homecoming weekend on Oct. 29.

Johnson led Catholic to a 13-1 record in his first year as head coach in 2021.

All-State honors on tap

The Alabama Sports Writers Association will release its softball All-State team this Sunday. You can find that on AL.com around 5 a.m. and in the Mobile Press-Register, Huntsville Times and Birmingham News as well.

The All-State baseball team will be released June 12.

Mr. Baseball and Miss Softball will be announced and honored at the ASWAs 50th annual convention in Birmingham the night of June 12.

80s quote of the week

You ought to spend a little more trying to do something with yourself and a little less trying to impress people. Richard Vernon, The Breakfast Club (1985)

Thought for the week

Believe that the ultimate outcome in whatever you are facing is in the Lords hands. Tony Dungy, Uncommon Life

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at bthomas@al.com. His weekly column is posted each Friday on AL.com.

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This week in HS sports: Former Thomasville coach Greg Crager undeterred in mission to impact lives - AL.com