Being able to coach under legends is a coveted experience for any coach.

It’s something newly hired Pleasant Home head football coach Ronnie Douglas has accomplished.

And with that, Douglas said Friday that he’ll take what he’s learned as an assistant under many of Florida’s great coaches and apply it for the Eagles’ football team. This is his first time at the helm in Alabama.

“I’m very excited about being here,” Douglas said. “I was very fortunate to work with some very good coaches over the years.”

Douglas was hired Thursday night during the Covington County Board of Education’s regularly scheduled meeting.

He was hired on a contractual basis, and will only perform coaching duties at PHS.

Prior to being hired as the Eagles coach, Douglas spent four years as an assistant at Tate High School, where he served as the offensive coordinator and quarterback/running back coach last season. In 2009, he was the defensive back coach and in 2008, he headed the ninth grade football team.

Before his four years at THS, Douglas spent 10 years in the fitness business, opening what was then called Gold’s Gym on the Florida Panhandle.

His good friend, Ed Rigby, was the head coach at THS and Douglas said Rigby asked him if he wanted to coach under him.

“I’d been there a couple years and went up there and started helping him,” Douglas said. “I got into it, liked it, and said to myself that this is something I want to keep doing.”

Douglas said he has been “fortunate” to coach with Jimmy Ray Stephens, Joey Rankin, Carl Madison, the late Bobby Taylor and Rigby.

With his combined experience in business and football, Douglas said he believes he can bring a lot of knowledge to PHS.

“I think I’ll bring some knowledge — not that I’m going to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “Football is common sense. What do you find in most successful programs? You always find out usually the more successful they are, the more simple they are.”

Douglas noted the fact that the Pleasant Home community is hard-working, which will bring hard-working players to the program.

When it comes to the game of football itself, Douglas said being able to coach the game is “a passion” of his.

“It’s a hobby and a passion,” he said. “You always spend more time with your hobby than you do your real job. It’s just a passion and a hobby of mine.

“I love it, I love working with the young men that we have the opportunity to work with as a coach,” he said.

Additionally, Douglas said he would like to thank PHS principal Craig Nichols and Covington County Board of Education superintendent Terry Holley as well as the board, for giving him the opportunity to coach at the school.

“It’s a good program here,” Douglas said. “The program’s not a very old program, but it is established. It’s a hard working community. My job is to get these men ready to play football on Friday night, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Douglas has a wife, Teri and three children, Taylor, Cortney and Jackson.