A winning tradition
Published 12:01 am Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Jamey Dubose knows a lot about winning.
Fresh off of winning his second Class 6A football title as the head coach at Prattville High School, the Opp native said if it wasn’t for people in Andalusia, in his hometown and the influence they were in his life, then he wouldn’t be where he is today.
“I owe everything back to those two communities,” Dubose said in a telephone interview Monday.
Dubose’s Lions beat Hoover 35-34 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Friday. PHS sealed the win with a last-minute stop on a two-point conversion try from Hoover, who had scored late in the game.
Dubose’s first coaching job was as a volunteer coach under Straughn head coach Trent Taylor, who hired him to coach the offensive and defensive lines. Taylor was the first coach to give him a job, Dubose said.
“I learned a lot from Trent,” Dubose said. “He’s a great coach, and a great man.
“I’m so glad he gave me the opportunity in college (while at Troy University), and I was wondering what I wanted to do in my life. Straughn has come a long way, and I’ve come a long way.”
He started his coaching career under Rush Propst at Eufaula, and after a short time there, left and went to coach with Spence McCracken at Opelika High School. After a stint at Opelika, Dubose coached at Alma Bryant in Irvington and in Gadsden.
Dubose’s first head-coaching job came at Susan Moore High School, then a Class 3A school, in Blountsville from 2002-03.
After his time at Susan Moore, former Prattville head football coach Bill Clark called Dubose and asked him if he wanted to win some state championships.
“Lo and behold, that’s where I’ve been and like I said, it’s been a dream,” Dubose said.
As a young man growing up in Opp, Dubose participated in many of the youth-league sports programs.
Dubose played on baseball, football or “youth anything,” he said.
At Opp High School, Dubose started his 10th, 11th and 12th grade years on the offensive line at the center position.
While at OHS, Dubose said he played under some great coaches namely Hinton Johns and Jamie Riggs, who is the current T.R. Miller head football coach.
“It takes you becoming a coach to realize what coaches mean, and how they love you,” he said. “Back in high school, I had people push me.
“I look back on it today, and those are the guys that made me who I am because one of the reasons we’re successful at Prattville — and any of the guys here will tell you — is that I will out work anybody. I believe in hard work and dedication to the program and loyalty to the program.
“Those are things I got while I grew up in Opp,” he said. “I think living in Opp and the people I came in contact with is mainly why I’m successful today.”
Dubose has two sons, Mason who is 9; and Riley who is 8; two step sons in Lance, who plays football at Southern Mississippi, and Austin, who is a sophomore on Prattville’s football team, and is married to Tracey.
Dubose is the son of Harold and Carolyn Dubose of Opp.
Lance was a part of the 2008 championship team, and his Southern Mississippi football team beat Houston to win the Conference USA title.
So, it’s safe to say that Dubose’s family knows a lot about winning, too.