New coach David Stapleton tries to change the culture at Ashford, which hasn't had a winning season in nine years.
DAVID MUNDEE The football season hasn’t kicked off yet, but new Ashford head coach David Stapleton III feels a step has already been taken to help the Yellow Jackets build upward.
“Winning helps with that, but it goes back to taking it one game at a time and giving this community and the stakeholders in our program something to believe in and something they want to invest in.” The new Jackets coach has only six years of coaching experience, but has been around a football locker room his whole life following his dad, David, who was head football coach at Robertsdale , Daphne and Shades Valley .
Stapleton was a two-year starter at safety on defense at Fairhope High School under David Faulkner and Winegarden, graduating from the school in 2014. He attended Troy University and spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach with the Trojan football team before earning a physical education degree in 2019.
Braylon Bigham returns as a starter in the backfield, though he could also line up as a slot wide receiver during games. Wesley McLendon is expected to start at fullback. AJ Lewis and Paramore will also play some in the backfield when not at other positions. Lewis, considered one of the team’s top athletes, is a tight end and back-up quarterback in addition to being a running back.
“He is a special talent at 6-foot, 200 pounds,” Stapleton said. “If you look at him, he doesn’t look like a sophomore. He looks like a senior.”
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