This week in HS Sports: New executive director must address key topics quickly

Heath Harmon officially starts his new job as executive director of the Alabama High School Athletic Association on Monday.

Since he was named to the position early last month, Harmon has spent five weeks putting the finishing touches on his tenure as Oxford High School’s principal and talking to people – a lot of people.

“I’ve just been trying to do everything I can possibly do to prepare for the job,” he said in a conversation on SportsTalk 99.5 in Mobile recently.

I’ve interviewed Harmon on three occasions since he was hired by the Central Board and his messages have been consistent. I’ve been impressed with his availability and his passion for following in the footsteps of the previous five executive directors and keeping the AHSAA among the nation’s most respected high school associations.

Here are a couple of things Harmon said last week:

On how much advice he has received so far:

“It hasn’t been a ton of folks just reaching out and giving advice, but I have fielded a lot of opinions and I do enjoy listening to that, so this has been a good time to just listen and see what people are saying. I want to make sure people know I’m accessible and definitely want to hear people out. At the end of the day, decisions will have to be made and that doesn’t always make everyone happy. But I’m committed in every single decision to following our overall mission and vision and making sure we are consistent.”

On his first priorities when he gets to Montgomery:

“I have been able to meet the staff, but we will have more of a formal staff meeting. Anytime, I come into a job, I like to do an entrance interview and that will be really helpful to see what is going on with each staff member on a day-to-day basis. After that, a lot of it will be accessing the current reality of situations. Where we are, where are we trying to get and how do we get there? For me, I tend to always look at that strategically. Where do we want to be in 30 days? Where do we want to be in 60 days? In 90 days? That takes care of those first 90 days and then the bigger picture of where we want to be a little further down the line?”

On the future of the Super 7 now that Auburn and Alabama are out of the rotation:

“That will definitely be one of the things on the top of the list when I come in on the 8th to see where we are and whatever process we are in as far as getting proposals for that. It’s something I’ll be working on right out of the gate, so I’m sure I’ll have more information on that once I get in and get started.”

Harmon has not said whether he favors NIL on the high school level or not, but he does know there has to be a plan either way:

“We want to be moving quick enough with that where we are not dragging our feet or anything. We also want to proceed cautiously for obvious reasons. We have to have a plan. You asked earlier what some of the things are I would be looking at as soon as I come in. Making sure we have a really good, strategic plan for NIL is one of those. That has to be looked at early on and just making sure we have a real good plan, and we are communicating. I think everyone needs to know that we have a plan, what it is and the reasons for that. It will definitely be addressed early on.”

Harmon said he has talked to the last three executive directors – Dan Washburn, Steve Savarese and Alvin Briggs – and likely will lean on them for advice moving forward. He said, “you can’t underestimate the wise counsel of experience.”

However, he also said the decisions made moving forward will be his own.

“It’s important for people to know that you are making the decision you feel is right and that you are leading the organization,” he said.

Harmon appears ready to attack his new job. The decisions he makes early on several fronts (NIL, Super 7, transfers) will likely set a foundation for his tenure.

A new Hall of Famer

Jack Wood, executive director of the Alabama Football Coaches Association, was honored last week with induction into the National High School Athletics Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Wood was part of a 27-member class from across the nation.

He coached 19 years at Hewitt-Trussville High and is now entering his 20th as the only executive director the ALFCA has ever had. A Wetumpka native, Wood played football and wrestled in high school and went on to Auburn University.

He went 141-78 in 19 years at Hewitt and 14 of his teams made the state playoffs.

Congrats, coach Wood. Well deserved.

Thanks for all you do for our student-athletes.

Prattville hires new AD

Former Montevallo football coach Blake Boren is the new athletic director at Prattville.

The school announced the hire earlier this week.

Boren went 26-17 as the head coach at Montevallo from 2020-2023. He has 17 years of experience in both high school and college athletics.

Thought for the week

“I won’t bow down to idols. I’ll stand strong and worship You.

And if it puts me in the fire, I’ll rejoice because You’re there too.”

-- Cody Carnes

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected]. He can be heard weekly on “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.