Cris Bell Steps Down as Scottsboro Head Football Coach

Scottsboro, AL – Cris Bell announced on Thursday that he will not be returning for a fourth season as Scottsboro High School’s head football coach.  

The Richmond, VA native closed out his three year tenure at the helm of the Wildcats program with an 18-15 record including a pair of playoff appearances, a trip to the second round of the postseason in 2022 and an 11-6 mark in region play.  

Scottsboro closed out 2023 at 8-3, falling to the Moody Blue Devils in the first round of the Class 5A postseason.  

Prior to taking over the Scottsboro program in 2021, Bell lead the Class 7A Oak Mountain Eagles for 12 seasons posting a 47-49 record and advancing to the postseason four times.  He left the Metro Birmingham program as the as the Eagle’s winningest coach both in total wins and winning percentage.  

He was named Class 7A Coach of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association in 2022 and was honored by the Alabama Football Coaches Association in 2014.  

Before coming to Alabama in 2012, the Hampden-Sydney College alum served as an assistant at Georgia’s Marietta High School and spent four seasons as head coach at Strong Rock Christian School in Locust Grove, GA.  

Earlier in his career he had collegiate coaching stints at Hampden-Sydney, Carson-Newman College and Greenville University in Illinois.  

His first head coaching stop was a two year stint at James River High School in Midlothian, VA.  

Bell’s head coaching record currently stands at 92-91-1. 

Following AHSAA reclassification, Scottsboro will move to Class 5A, Region 8 along side reigning region champion Guntersville, Arab, Boaz, Brewer, Douglas and Sardis.  

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