Sean Calhoun feels like he’s a ‘good fit’ to take over Rebels football program

Scattered across Sean Calhoun’s desk in a makeshift office are somewhere around a dozen sticky notes.

On those sticky notes are reminders of all the different things Calhoun needs to do that day: send an email to parents, call an interior designer, talk to last year’s team mom, figure out how to transport the ninth grade football players to the main campus … the list goes on and on.

There is plenty to do for Calhoun, the new head coach of the Vestavia Hills High School football program. Calhoun is the first new headman for the Rebels in 44 years and just the seventh head coach in program history. Buddy Anderson retired last fall after 43 extremely successful years leading the Rebels, amassing 346 wins along the way.

Calhoun began his tenure Jan. 19 and has been full speed ahead ever since.

“The only way I know how to do stuff is jump in the deep end and jump right in,” he said. “It’s been an awesome journey so far, and I know it’s only going to get better.”

There’s much to do to get ready for the Aug. 20 season opener against Mountain Brook, so the sticky notes serve as a sort of to-do list for the new coach.

“Has it been overwhelming at times? For sure. You’ve just got to stay organized and prioritize certain things for that day,” he said.

THERE AND BACK

Calhoun’s football life has taken him to places near and far, but his new gig will be his first experience in the state of Alabama.

Growing up in Lawrenceville, Georgia, he knew from an early age he wanted to be a football coach. He walked on at Valdosta State University, coached then by current Samford University head coach Chris Hatcher. Calhoun was the backup quarterback on the 2004 team that went on to win the Division II national championship.

Following his playing days, Calhoun landed in Aberdeen, South Dakota, as a graduate assistant at Northern State University, where he met his wife Kellie. Calhoun then spent two years on the staff at his alma mater, with Valdosta State winning a national championship in 2007.

Calhoun stepped into the high school ranks in the state of Georgia after that, serving as an assistant coach at Berrien, Collins Hill and Colquitt County — coached by former Hoover High School head coach Rush Propst — before landing his first head coaching job at Carrollton.

He was the offensive coordinator for a Colquitt County team that went 30-0 across his two seasons there, winning a couple state titles along the way. At Carrollton, he won 51 games over the last five years, each year advancing to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs.

NEW TERRITORY

Vestavia Hills presented the perfect opportunity for Calhoun, his wife and their three kids.

“To sum it up, they are just awesome people,” Calhoun said of his first impressions of the community. “On the staff, there’s some really good coaches. But more importantly, they’re good people, good family men and they love this place.”

There has been no shortage of new names and faces for Calhoun to learn in his short time in Vestavia, from his players to coaches to school faculty to community stakeholders. He had each of his players fill out an information sheet in an effort to get to know them deeper than a line on a computer spreadsheet.

Calhoun’s values line up with what Vestavia Hills was searching for in Anderson’s successor. He was recommended to the Board of Education by a search committee including Vestavia Hills City Schools Superintendent Todd Freeman, Vestavia Hills High School Principal Tonya Rozell, Athletic Director Jeff Segars and Assistant Superintendent Patrick Martin.

“Coach Calhoun has dedicated his career to investing in the lives of young men through the sport of football. His values and commitment to excellence are aligned with those of our school system and community. His successful experiences have prepared him to lead our football program and build on the legacy established by Coach Anderson and his teams. Coach Calhoun and his family will be a wonderful addition to Vestavia Hills,” Freeman said.

Like Anderson, Calhoun does not shy away from his Christian faith. For years, Anderson and wife Linda have hosted Bible studies at their house for anyone on the team who desired to do so.

“I’m a good fit for this place, when it comes to being open about your faith,” Calhoun said. “You never know where the good Lord takes you.”

FOLLOWING A LEGEND

No matter who took over at Vestavia Hills, following the legendary career and legacy of Anderson would be no small task.

Although he has never coached in this area before, Calhoun is getting brought up to speed quickly on how Anderson was able to have such a strong impact on his players and the community.

He has no desire to alter that foundation.

“I’m going to continue the foundation and fundamentals of coaching and running a successful program with loyalty, honesty, hard work, pride and being committed,” Calhoun said. “A man is not going to be somewhere 43 years as the head coach unless he’s doing things the right way.”

Although, Calhoun knows he cannot do things exactly the way Anderson did things. Each person is unique and leads in a different manner. But the pillars that the Rebels’ program has been built on will not change, he said.

“The things you see on Friday night may look a little different, but the effort is still going to be the same. The commitment to winning is still going to be the same,” Calhoun said.

One of those pillars is putting the wellbeing of the players first, no matter the situation.

“Everything is focused on our players,” Calhoun said. “First and foremost, that’s improving them as a person, then attacking the athletic side of it is second. If I come in doing the reverse, I’m doing them a disservice.”

A DESIRE TO WIN

Calhoun admits that the Rebels’ playing style will look different than the run-heavy, option-based offense that Anderson’s team employed to such great success over the years. But his motives behind such a change are geared toward being successful on the field any way possible.

“We’re going to do what our kids can do,” he said. “I’ve had years where we threw it a lot, because that’s the personnel we had. There’s been other years where we really ran it a lot more because we didn’t have that same personnel.”

But there is an attribute that will remain from the way the Rebels have always played.

“We can’t lose that toughness. We know how to run the football here. We have that mentality. I love that. At any level, teams that can run the football are going to win a lot more than you lose,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun is eager to add a third state championship title to the Rebels’ trophy case to go alongside the ones earned by the 1980 and 1998 Vestavia squads.

It’s on his to-do list at Vestavia Hills, so perhaps it will be on a sticky note soon.

“Roll your sleeves up. Let’s get to work. That’s the only way I know,” he said.