Auburn High School lands championship head football coach

Auburn, AL – Just over two weeks after the search began for Auburn High School’s 26th head football coach, the Tigers have zeroed in on their next leader on the gridiron.  

PrepsNet has learned that Oxford High School’s Keith Etheredge is expected to be named the east Alabama 7A power’s next head football coach.  Etheredge is expected to be approved by the Auburn City School Board at a special called meeting on Friday. 

Etheredge replaces former head coach Adam Winegarden who stepped down to accept the top job at Tuscaloosa County in early February.  Winegarden led the Tigers to a 56-19 record over six seasons including a region title and a trip to the AHSAA Super 7 in his final season in Auburn.  The Tigers capped 2020 at 12-2, closing out the year with a heart breaking 29-28 loss to Thompson in the 7A state title game.  

Etheredge brings one of the most impressive head coaching resumes in Alabama high school football to The Plains.  The Leeds native began his head coaching career at his alma mater in 2006.  His 10 year tenure at the helm of the Leeds Green Wave proved to be a decade of dominance for the Metro Birmingham program.  He complied a 107-34 record including a 52-16 mark in region play, six region titles, 10 post season appearances, a pair of undefeated seasons, five trips to the Super 7 and four state championships.  His teams racked up double-digit wins seven times and advanced at least to the playoff quarterfinals in each of his 10 seasons. 

After a decade in Leeds, Etheredge moved 15 miles east to take the reigns of the 6A Pell City Panthers.  After a pair of 6-5 seasons in St. Clair County he spent one year at the helm of the T.R. Miller program leading the 3A Tigers to another 6-5 mark.  

In 2019 the Jacksonville State grad accepted the head coaching position at traditional 6A power Oxford.  During two seasons he has guided the Yellow Jackets to a 25-3 record, a pair of region crowns, a 7-1 postseason mark, an 11-1 region record and the program’s first state championship since 1993.  

Etheredge’s career head coaching record currently stands at 150-52 with eight region titles, 15 postseason births, nine seasons with double-digit wins, 40 playoff wins and and five state championships over 15 seasons.