The following is a story by Johnny Sanders, sports editor of the Trussville Tribune:
SPRINGVILLE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) – On November 7, Springville found themselves without a head football coach as Jon Clements resigned his position at the helm of the program after four years. In a board meeting on Tuesday morning, Chris Metcalf was voted in as the next head football coach for the Tigers.
Metcalf comes to Springville with no previous head coaching experience, but he does have a good bit of experience as a successful assistant.
Not a stranger to Tribuneland, Metcalf is a Clay-Chalkville graduate (2008) who went on to UAB and finished his education at Auburn University with a degree in math education. His coaching career started at John Carroll while he was in class at UAB, where he coached under his father in 2010. He coached ninth grade football while at Auburn as well.
After college, Metcalf started his teaching and coaching career at Hoover on Josh Niblett’s staff. That staff included Sam Adams (Oxford), Aryvia Holmes (McAdory), Chad Eads (formerly at Gardendale), and Adrian Abrams, Metcalf’s previous head coach at Minor. During his time on staff, Metcalf coached both offense and defense. His final year at Hoover was as receivers coach, where he coached greats like Shedrick Jackson (Las Vegas Raiders) and George Pickens (Pittsburgh Steelers).
After being on the Hoover staff, Minor High School’s head coaching job opened up and Metcalf was part of a trio who would leave the Bucs’ staff and fill the vacant spots. “We were all together at Hoover. It’s funny, when the Minor job came along. Coach Holmes and Abrams both interviewed for that job. They had an agreement in place that whoever got the job would hire the other as his coordinator. Adrian is a defensive guy and Aryvia is an offensive guy. I was sort of the third piece in that. I was going to get to be the other coordinator. So we got to be there together for three years before Aryvia got the job at McAdory. I was also offensive coordinator at Minor during covid and then I went back to defense for my final three years. I feel confident coaching both sides of the ball.”
In 2021, Metcalf was selected as the scout coach for the Alabama team in the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Game. Adams was the head coach on that team and Sam Shade, Pinson Valley head coach at the time, served as defensive coordinator on that team as well. Metcalf has also been asked to speak at the ALFCA convention, discussing “DB Player Development” amongst the best coaches in the state.
The process was not an easy one and many names were considered for the position. Dr. Gregory Moore, Principal at Springville, said the following. “We tried to have as detailed of a process as necessary. It was tough. We had a lot of great applicants and we narrowed it down to those we wanted to interview. We brought them in to spend time with office staff and with the remaining coaches here and talk football a little bit. Coach Metcalf stood out because of his core values as a person. We look at intangibles. The candidates were all football people. He fell in line with what we are trying to instill in our kids. He has also been under some great coaches, been on some state championship teams. He’s also an educated, smart young man who brings these things to the building.”
As far as expectations of the new coach, Moore said, “We obviously want to be competitive. We want him to help mold young men. If we can do that, along with hard work and detail, we will have a chance to be successful. That success will be measured on and off of the field. He has that drive to do that as well as have some folks excited about football. He is excited and we are excited too. At some point, someone has to give him a chance. We just trust God and follow the process.”
Metcalf takes over a program that experienced an offensive overhaul two years ago as Clements and his staff moved to a triple-option offense. While somewhat controversial at the time, the new offense led to a non-losing season in 2023, the program’s first since 2011. They also reached the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
2024 was not so kind to the Tigers as they finished 3-7 in Clements’ final year at the helm.
“What really made Springville attractive to me was the people. I grew up down the road and knew some folks who lived here. I talked to folks leading up to this hire and it all kept coming back to amazing people and an amazing community. Everyone is supportive and they love each other and this place and I want to be a part of that. Getting people to buy into the culture and setting a foundation is what you have to do day one. Even at the places where we had success, we didn’t talk about that success. We talked details. At Hoover and at Minor, we had a recruiting coordinator and the head coach is very involved in getting kids recruited and getting them exposure that they deserve and allow them to do what they want to do. There are colleges everywhere who look for good kids and smart kids and I think they will find it here.”
Coach Metcalf’s message to the Springville family is, “We want to build a lifestyle of greatness. Greatness is ongoing and you never really achieve it finally. That will be what we preach. Build greatness in all that we do. It will leave a legacy. Coach Niblett said, ‘The legacy that you leave is more intimidating than the day itself,’ and I felt that was a great quote. We want to put a product on the field that the community is proud of.”