Elmore County High School took a rare step out of the Terry Burt “family” of coaches Thursday when it named Jordan Cantrell from West Limestone High School as its new head football coach.
The 33-year-old Cantrell takes over for Norman Dean, who coached the Panthers for 13 seasons (2005-2017) and a 77-64 record before resigning last month to accept a position as an assistant at Faulkner University. Cantrell comes to Elmore County after four years at West Limestone, the last three in which his Wildcats reached the Class 4A state playoffs. He compiled an overall 25-20 record at the Lester school, including an 8-4 record in 2015 and a 10-2 mark in 2016.
“We’re very excited, my family and I,” said Cantrell, whose hiring was approved by the Elmore County Board of Education at a Thursday afternoon meeting. “I heard about the job from a friend and applied and came down for the initial interview. My wife came down with me. It’s a beautiful place and you can tell they love their football down here.
“My wife and I took a full tour of all the facilities on Friday, including all of the Eclectic schools. We met the teachers, the administrators and when the school tour was over, we just looked at each other and said, ‘This is it.’”
Elmore County High School principal Wes Rogers believes Cantrell can create a “new culture” around the Elmore County football program.
“Coach Cantrell is a family man and will bring a blue-collar, competitive atmosphere and a new culture to our team and community,” Rogers said. “We are thrilled to have Coach, his wife, Jamie, and their three children as part of our ECHS family.
Rogers added Cantrell’s “ability to build relationships with the players, student body and the community” weas key to his selection.
“He will hit the ground running and be on campus full time starting Feb. 20 and begin preparing for spring training in late April and early May and the spring game May 11 vs. Booker T. Washington at Burt-Haynie Field,” Rogers said.
Cantrell said, more than schemes, his football philosophy is about “trying to help train young men to be contributors to society, hard workers, good husbands, great fathers,” but “as a coach, you’ve really got to evaluate your personnel and adjust. You have to be a lifelong learner.”
Cantrell is charged with resurrecting a storied Panther program that averaged less than five wins over its last six seasons. He becomes only the second head coach at Elmore County who did not play for Burt at the Eclectic school since the late Alabama High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame head coach took over the Panther program in 1963 and led the Panthers to state 2A titles in 1976 and 1978 and a class 4A state championship in 1987, the year before West Limestone made its first playoff appearance.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be selected to be a part of the tradition here,” Cantrell said. “It’s a program that’s very rich in football history and tradition. I was just lucky enough to be selected to help to carry on that tradition.”
Since Burt retired in 1990, Travis Pearson, who coached the Panthers from 2002-04 and finished with a record of 20-13 at the school – including a trip to the third round of the Class 4A playoffs in 2004 – is the only non-Burt-coached product who has served as the Panthers’ head coach. Pearson did, however, serve as an assistant under the legendary Elmore County coach.
Burt, who came out of retirement to coach the Panthers again from 1999-2001, Jim Adams and Norman Dean, both of whom played under Burt, are the only three others to coach at the school since.
