Ohatchee, AL – After spates of chaos in Findley’s first year and a half as Ohatchee’s head football coach, ‘I would really appreciate a normal year’
Joe Medley
Chris Findley has been a varsity head football coach for a season and a half, yet he can relate to actor J.K. Simmons in the Farmers Insurance commercials.
He feels like he knows a thing or two because he’s seen a thing or two.
After working through a midseason battlefield promotion in 2021, 2022’s injury spate that included a dog bite and a round of offseason staff changes, Findley wouldn’t mind a little payoff in his second full season as Ohatchee’s head coach.
Or just normal.
“I would really appreciate a normal year,” he said with a laugh during Friday’s preseason interview. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”
Ohatchee enters 2023 with more experienced depth thanks to all of those 2022 injuries and the unexpected playing time some underclassmen got.
Despite graduation losses that included most of Ohatchee’s backfield battery in the “Ugly Eagle” offense, Findley has good skill players to plug in.
It’s hard to say what better will look like in a region that includes preseason second-ranked Piedmont, No. 8 Sylvania and 2022 quarterfinalist Geraldine. Westbrook Chrisitan, the school Ohatchee beat out for Class 3A, Region 6’s final playoff spot, hired legendary coach Steve Smith away from Piedmont.
Chances are, better won’t last year’s 0-7 start. Better could look more like the 3-0 finish that, with help, resulted in the Indians’ seventh playoff berth in as many years,
The Tribe rolls into 2023 with that good vibe, and maybe, just maybe, the chaos gods are done messing with Findley for a while.
Of course, he wanted the job, just not the way it happened. Scott Martin went on administrative leave four games into 2021, prompting Findley’s elevation to interim head coach.
Martin ultimately resigned, and Findley lost the interim tag.
Findley and his staff handled that transition well. After Ohatchee lost to Saks, the Indians won six consecutive games, including a 28-24 victory over Piedmont, and reached the second round of the playoffs.
Ready for normal in 2022, Findley faced injuries that left as many as eight starters out at one time. No season-ending injuries, but the list included one non-football injury … a dog bite.
What a way to start Findley’s first full season as head coach. Like, it wasn’t enough to have to replace graduated quarterback and 2,000-yard rusher Eli Ennis?
“I’ve never been around anything like that,” Findley said. “There were questions, like what are we going to do?”
Players gradually returned to action, and the Indians made their stunning rally to make the playoffs. Injuries came with an upside.
“By the end of the year, we had developed some depth we didn’t have before,” he said.
Players pressed into early service included then-sophomore running back Nate Jones, whose chance to shine came after injuries to Tyler Waters and Jesse Baswell. Jones wound up earning All-Calhoun County status. Waters and Baswell changed positions once back from injuries.
Jones is a junior entering 2023.
“You’ll barely recognize Nate this year,” Findley said. “He’s put on 25, 30 pounds from last year and gotten faster, even after putting on that kind of weight. …
“He was in out of necessity last year, but you realized pretty quickly how natural he was at it, the vision he’s got, the feet and the cuts.”
All’s well that ended well in 2022, but Findley had another round of chaos to go. Long-time Ohatchee defensive coordinator Blake Jennings got his shot to be a head coach, at White Plains. Long-time staffer Bryant Ginn moved back to Alexandria, alma mater for him, Jennings and Findley.
When the musical chairs ended, Findley wound up with five new assistant coaches. They had their first meeting together the day before practice started.’
“It’s tough, because they weren’t here all summer,” Findley said. “You start practice off, and they don’t know kids’ names. They’re calling kids by numbers.”
Those things should work themselves out by Ohatchee’s Aug. 18 jamboree on the Creekbank. Knock on Ohatchee’s wooden lockers, and maybe normalcy will come and stay a while.
If not, Findley has proved he can adapt.
Tribal facts
Things to know about Ohatchee football heading into the 2023 season:
—Chris Findley enters his second full season as Ohatchee’s head coach. Including his time as interim coach in 2021, he’s 9-10 with two playoff appearances.
—Strapped with early season injuries in 2022, the Indians started 0-7 but won their final three regular-season games to reach the playoffs. They lost to Gordo in the first round.
—Key graduation losses from 2022 include five All-Calhoun County players: LB: Chris Ferguson, WB/LB/S/KR Devin Howell, HD/FB/DL Tyler Waters, DL Elijah Engle, QB/DB Bryce Noah.
—The following All-Calhoun County picks return: junior RB Nate Jones, junior OL Ayden McNair, junior DB Colby Hester, TE/P/LB/DB Jesse Baswell, junior LB Deacon Engle, junior S/QB Jake Roberson, junior OL/DL Tristan Kiker.
— Player to watch: Former Donoho QB Will Folsom transferred to Ohatchee in the middle of the 2022-23 school year and is a factor in the Indians’ QB race going into 2023. He’ll find the field somehow.
— Findley’s staff underwent an offseason overhaul, with friend and long-time defensive coordinator Blake Jennings becoming White Plains’ head coach and Bryant Ginn returning to alma mater Alexandria. New additions include Kyle Parrish, also the school’s new head baseball coach, and Kyle Wilson, also the Indians’ new boys’ basketball coach.
— The second year of the current reclassification cycle means a home-away reverse of the 2022 schedule. Highlights include two county rivals to open the season … Saks at home on Aug. 24 and Wellborn on the road Sept. 1. The Indians open region play Sept. 8 at home against Westbrook Christian, now coached by former Piedmont head coach Steve Smith. The Indians also have a non-region home game against Jacksonville on Sept. 29.
