By Rubin E. Grant
For the past seven months, Sean Calhoun has been so busy with non-football-related stuff that he has had little time to think about following a legend as Vestavia Hills’ new football coach.
Calhoun was hired in January to replace Buddy Anderson, who had been Vestavia Hills’ head coach since 1978 and retired at the end of the 2020 campaign. In his 43 seasons at the helm, Anderson became the winningest high school coach in state history with a 346-160 record and won two state championships.
Calhoun knew all that when he took the job, but other things have kept him from dwelling on it.
“It has been a whirlwind, getting my foot on the ground, getting acclimated and getting my feet wet,” Calhoun said.
Calhoun and his family – his wife Kellie and three school-aged children, Cade, Cora and Cambry – had to move from Georgia to Alabama. He had spent the past five seasons as head coach at Carrolton, Georgia.
He received plenty of support from the Vestavia Hills community during the transition, especially from Vestavia Hills High Principal Tonya Rozell.
“Once I got here, we held a fundraising event and we had really good support, people wanting us to be successful and lending a helping hand, such as with our living situation,” Calhoun said. “We lived with the principal’s parents for a while. They are salt of the earth people.”
The family finally found a house after five months of searching, though they still are looking for a church.
If all that weren’t enough, the Rebels’ football stadium was unavailable at times because a new track was being installed around the field and there was construction going on throughout the summer on the fieldhouse, which houses the head coach’s office.
“We’ve been displaced and not able to be in the stadium much,” Calhoun said. “We’ve had to practice on the baseball field. I’ve been in two different offices while the work on the fieldhouse gets done. We’ve had to learn to adapt, but that’s life.”
Meanwhile, Calhoun arrived while COVID-19 restrictions were in place.
“When I got here in January, there were a bunch of (COVID) protocols,” he said. “I had gotten used to all that stuff in Georgia and had to get used to how they do things here at Vestavia Hills and the state of Alabama. All the protocols in place are for everyone’s safety and that’s what’s important. Everybody running a program has been affected in some way or another.”
Building a New Team
When Calhoun finally had some time to do what he was hired to do — coach football — he familiarized himself with the players and made some new additions to the coaching staff.
He brought in Mickey Reville as a new football operations director; Bert Newton, son of former Homewood coach Bob Newton, as the defensive coordinator; David Lundberg, who had been an assistant at Hueytown, as the offensive line coach and running game coordinator; John Rodgers, who had been at Hartselle, as the linebackers coach; and Patrick Bonovitch, a Vestavia Hills alumnus and former Spain Park assistant, as running backs coach.
They joined returning assistants Jake James, Greg Smith and Brent Welborn, all Vestavia alums; and Sammy Queen.
Calhoun also revamped the Rebels’ offense, installing the popular spread formation, and the Newton hire ensured the Rebels would play an attacking style of defense.
“We’ve got to compete as hard as we can, play sound football and be physical, especially with the people we play on our schedule,” he said.
Apparently, players like the approach Calhoun is taking. Participation numbers were so high during the spring and summer that the weight room could not hold the entire team at once.
The Rebels opened the 2021 season Aug. 20, visiting longtime rival Mountain Brook.
A week before the game, Calhoun said, “Our kids are ready to compete. They’re tired of just seeing each other and hitting each other in practice. I’m just as excited to see them play. They have worked hard.”
In preparation for his first season, Calhoun also spent time with Anderson, getting advice from the coach who spent 49 years at Vestavia Hills, the first six as an assistant.
“He definitely helped a lot,” Calhoun said. “We would meet regularly and talk, but it was more than just football stuff. It was about life and other stuff, getting to know this place. Coach Anderson is Vestavia Hills, so who better to ask?”
As far as following the legendary coach, Calhoun doesn’t believe he’s under any pressure to produce a state championship contender in his first season.
“There’s no more pressure on me than what I put on myself,” he said. “I want to win every game and I’m going to do my best to do that.”
