Don’t expect an overall under a new coach for the Mobile Christian football team.

“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. That’s all I can say,” said new head coach Charles Lawson.

The Leopards moved rapidly to replace longtime head coach Ronnie Cottrell, who stepped down on Monday. Less than 24 hours later, head of school Clint Mitchell announced that Lawson, Cottrell’s defensive coordinator, would be the team’s new head coach.

“Coach Cottrell, the way he worked things around here, our coaching staff, we’re a close-knit group, so I don’t see any changes being made around here,” Lawson said. “We’re just going to keep moving the way we were going in the right direction.”

That direction clearly worked in 2023. The Leopards went 15-0 and won the Class 3A state championship. On Wednesday in Montgomery, star linebacker Kentonio Kelly Jr. was named the 3A Lineman of the Year.

Lawson said the team’s reaction to his promotion was overwhelmingly positive.

“It was exciting. There were a lot of text messages and calls asking, ‘Coach, who’s going to be the next head coach?’ I was like, ‘We’ll find out together, guys,’” Lawson said. “And when coach Clint Mitchell came in (to the team meeting Tuesday) and announced me as the head coach, it’s like they all got in an uproar and got excited about it. … It was a big positive and a great feeling.”

Lawson grew up in south Mississippi and graduated from Pascagoula High in 1998. He spent two years playing college football at Southern Mississippi with Dave Wommack, the father of former South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack, as his defensive coordinator.

He left football for a while after college and became more involved in coaching you baseball until he received a phone call from Cottrell.

“Coach Cottrell recruited me in high school and, when he got here at Mobile Christian, my oldest son was here at the time,” Lawson said. “I think he was in the fifth or sixth grade. Coach Cottrell heard his name and, you know how his memory is, he remembers everything. I get a call out of the blue, and he was asking me if I was the Charles Lawson out of Pascagoula High School and rambling off stats. He asked me to come up to the school and talk to him. I went up to the school to talk to him, and he offered me a position on the defense.”

Lawson coached linebackers for six years before being promoted to defensive coordinator in the spring of 2021. Led by Lawson — and Kelly’s 210 tackles — the Mobile Christian defense surrendered an average of just 10.1 points a game in 2023 with five regular-season shutouts. Lawson said he still plans to call the defense in 2024.

Due to the AHSAA’s private school competitive balance factor, the Leopards will jump from 3A to 4A in the fall. Lawson said his team won’t be deterred.

“These kids like challenges,” he said. “The funny thing is, I’m at baseball practice right now and one of my linebackers that plays baseball walked past me and he was like, ‘Coach, we’re going to be able to do this in 4A.’ So, they’re thinking the same thing. They want to go in and get the job done and have a back-to-back championship this next season.”

Cottrell announced his resignation on Monday, telling media he will seek a coaching opportunity in college. He has previously coached at both Florida State and Alabama. He spent nine years as Mobile Christian’s head coach.