The Red Bay Tigers have hired Heath Childers to replace Michael Jackson as the school’s head football coach.

Childers, a Vina native, returns home to Franklin County after having served as the head coach at Shelby County High School since 2013.

At Shelby County, Childers led his team to the 2020 Class 5A state playoffs with a 6-4 record.

Before taking on the head coaching role at Shelby County, Childers served one year as the offensive coordinator at Lincoln High School and six years as offensive coordinator at Shelby County, along with stints at Pike County High School, East Lawrence High School, Spalding High School in Georgia and A.Z. Kelsey Middle School in Georgia.

“It means a great deal to me to have this opportunity,” said Childers. “Red Bay is a great town with a lot of great people. To have the opportunity to come back and be the coach here is an awesome experience for me.”

Childers said he wants to build on the winning tradition Red Bay has established.

“My first goal is to win,” Childers said. “I want to build on and continue the winning tradition here at Red Bay. I also want to develop a personal relationship with my players, assistant coaches and the community.Having a good working relationship with those three groups is extremely important to any head coach.”

Childers is a graduate of the University of North Alabama.