April will be a busy month for Andy Crotwell.
Crotwell is honoring the final months of his contract at Caledonia High School, where he served as football coach and still teaches, while tending to the details of his new job of head football coach at North Pontotoc High.
Crotwell was with his new team Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, he was back at Caledonia cutting the grass. The times are hectic. The spirits remain good.
“The North Pontotoc position was simply too good to pass up,” Crotwell said. “I have already interacted with my new players. You can tell they are excited about the season ahead. I am too. This is a tradition-rich program. We want to continue to build on what Brian Sutton was doing.”
Sutton left the football sidelines after seven seasons as head coach. This fall, he will be the school’s principal. Crotwell was named his replacement earlier this month. Former Caledonia High football coach Ricky Kendrick re-assumed those duties earlier this month.
Crotwell was head coach at Caledonia for five seasons.
“One thing really stood out at me about my time at Caledonia,” Crotwell said. “I said it to my wife the first week we were here. The young people in this community are special. There are some wonderful kids here. … It was a pleasure working with these types of kids every day. It was very enriching. My time here will always be special. It helped make me who I am.”
After starting 4-7 and 3-8, Crotwell’s last three teams were 6-6, 5-5, and 5-6. The Confederates lost in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A playoffs in 2014 and 2016.
Caledonia had last made the playoffs in 2005.
“The players really worked hard to have success,” Crotwell said. “When you inherit a team without a lot of success, you have to work on the confidence level. Football is a mental game. You have to believe in your abilities before you set foot on the field. That was the challenge. We had to get a group of players to buy in. They had to believe in what we were doing.
“They had to believe in the process. They had to visualize they could set goals and reach them. We wanted to make the playoffs on a consistent basis. We came very close to three-straight appearances.”
Caledonia enjoyed the recent success with a high-octane offense. Quarterback Spencer Unruh threw for 5,126 yards and 54 touchdowns in the last three seasons. The Confederates also were strong on the ground, as Zion Ford ran for 1,933 yards and 19 touchdowns in the last three seasons.
Crotwell inherited a large eighth-grade class. That group went out together as program-changing seniors. The Confederates lost 28 players off the 2016 team. The season ended with a hard-fought 34-28 road loss at Greenwood in the first round of the playoffs.
“Our numbers were up the last couple of years,” Crotwell said. “When you have success, more players want to take part. We fought each year in one of the toughest regions in Class 4A. The players worked hard. They wanted to get the most out of their talent.”
At North Pontotoc, Crotwell will inherit a program that won 10 or more games in three of Sutton’s final four seasons. In 2016, North Pontotoc finished 10-4 and lost in the third round of the Class 3A playoffs.
“North Pontotoc has had a lot of success, and that is what draws you to that program,” Crotwell said. “The support is good. The players are eager to take that next step. There are a lot of offensive similarities between what they were doing and what we will be trying to do.”
At Caledonia, Kendrick will look at a lot of young faces and a new region. MHSAA realignment has moved Caledonia to Class 4A, Region 2 where it will compete with Amory, Itawamba AHS, Mooreville, Pontotoc, and Shannon.
Kendrick served as defensive line coach this past season under Crotwell. In 2010 and 2011, the Confederates won five games combined under Kendrick.
“It’s a good situation because of his familiarity with the program,” Crotwell said. “The kids know him. He is a regular around here. It will be a positive situation. He will be able to hit the ground running, and hopefully the new group of players will be able to take it further than we did.”
Scott Walters is a sports writer for The Dispatch. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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