Tim Gayle
Elmore Autauga News Contributor
For the second time in as many years, Autauga Academy headmaster Jeremy Carter will have to add additional duties as the school’s head football coach.
Carter was told by Autauga football coach Jeff Foshee on Sept. 24 that Foshee would be stepping down as the Generals’ head coach for health reasons. Carter has coached the Generals over the past two games, beating Prattville Christian 36-20 and Keith 50-24.
Foshee wasn’t feeling well when he arrived at school on the day of the Generals’ win over Autaugaville on Sept. 13 and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. In his absence, Carter coached the General to a 35-0 region victory over the Eagles.
After a 21-20 loss at Maplesville the following week, Foshee said he experienced another health scare over the weekend, which he said doctors later attributed to stress.
“He came in on Monday and said he had another episode and on Tuesday morning he came into my office and said, ‘I’m retiring, I’m out, I just can’t do it,” Carter said.
“I took over Tuesday afternoon at practice and we kind of did some new things offensively on Wednesday, had a walk-through on Thursday and played (Prattville Christian) on Friday.”
“I told them I was going to retire and they could have it,” Foshee said. “I walked away for health reasons. It was extremely hard to walk away from that team because that’s the team that I built. We had kids transfer in that I had created relationships with at prior places and they wanted to play for me. It was a hard decision for me to make but that last (health) episode scared me. But I had a very good relationship with those kids.”
Carter becomes the fourth coach at the school in the last four years. After Bobby Carr resigned from the school following the 2021 season, Trey Dunbar became the Generals’ head coach but stepped down on the first day of fall practice before the 2023 season to become an assistant coach at Wetumpka High.
Carter took over and coached the Generals to an 8-4 season and the Class AAA semifinals in their final year as an Alabama Independent School Association member. Now, in their first year as an Alabama High School Athletic Association team, he is forced to take the coaching reins again.
“I’m definitely proud of our kids, how they have come into their own,” Carter said. “The good thing is, half the team, or more than half, dealt with this last year. The new kids that have moved in are the only ones who have not dealt with this problem.”
The offense now has a slightly different look, powering behind an oversized offensive line, in part because of a season ending knee injury to tailback Cam Wright.
“Both sides of the ball responded,” Carter said. “Keith had only been giving up 14 points a game until Friday night and they’re a physical team. We made some adjustments and put up 50 on them.”
Carter said he will continue to coach the Generals through the remainder of the 2024 season and, at this point, has not entertained any thought of trying to find a successor to Foshee.
“That process is going to be a little different since we’ve dealt with this the last two years,” Carter said. “You may see me on the sideline from here on out. I love football, it’s been good to me, and these kids love football, too. I don’t see why I can’t do both.”
