Clint Woodfin arrives at East Limestone with excitement building around the program for their upcoming 2022 season.

Woodfin comes over from James Clemens and takes the helm of a program in a swiftly-growing area that will likely see ELHS jump up a classification to 6A at some point in the near future.

He is a graduate from Auburn University who grew up in Decatur as a graduate of Austin High.

He has been a regular in the northern part of the state for football for around a decade or so now.

The jobs he has had in northern Alabama include the East job, two stints at James Clemens – working for a couple different head coaches – as well as one stop at Huntsville High.

Over his time in Alabama and Georgia for high school football, he has coached the likes of Joshua Dobbs, the former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback, along with Heath Burchfield and Gio Lopez, two all-state quarterbacks from James Clemens.

Now, at East Limestone, he enters the head coaching job with a team filled with senior leadership and a tightly-knit group.

“This is my 21st year going into this. I took this job with the understanding that, one, I felt like I was ready – been a head coach before – so, for this one, I felt like I was ready for it,” he said. “I also understood the responsibility of leading a program for the 59 kids we have in that locker room. (I understand) the stewardship that comes with leading these kids right now and leading a program that is very prideful.”

This leadership starts at the top of a deep senior class, and Woodfin is thankful for the players he has as well as the people who came before him.

“At the end of the day, I am thankful the foundation (former coach Jeff) Pugh laid, because it makes it easier for what I want to do. It is not about me. My biggest impact is on the boys under my sphere of influence. That is all it comes down to is those kids, this school and this community. I am just the guy pointing us in the direction I feel like we need to go.”

He also talked about the “it takes a village” feel surrounding East Limestone.

“These parents have seen these kids grow up. The teachers in the building have been here for 10 to 15 years. Our principal (Matt Scott) was at Creekside for 18 years, which is really cool to think that every kid (at East) who went to Creekside is going to know the principal. You hold everyone accountable. You know somebody is watching and you know somebody has your back. It think it creates a level of accountability. I think a lot of the guys in our locker room (feel) the same way.”

Woodfin says, as of late last week, he has only seen his players a handful of times since taking on the job as the head coach.

This includes the recent 7 on 7 from Point Mallard in Decatur, where East was one of four county schools that saw themselves in action.

While this may have been the first competition with Woodfin leading the way, he says he is impressed by the character his team showed on and off the field.

“The best thing I saw from our kids was our kids constantly encourage each other. I never saw a kid get up in his feelings. When we scored touchdowns, I wanted to see how the kids responded. Were they trash talking? Were they trying to stare down somebody? Our kids didn’t do that. They got excited with each other, which is what they’re supposed to do. Kids got excited when they made a big play. It has been really cool to see.”

Additionally, Woodfin says that the transition from JC to East has gone about as smooth as an individual could hope for.

East Limestone faces off at Athens High School from Larry McCoy field in the one of the first regular season games of the year on Thursday, August 18.

The renewal of the rivalry is something that Woodfin and Athens head coach Cody Gross have said is good for the community and brings excitement to the area.