After nine years coordinating UMS-Wright’s defense against Old Shell Road rival St. Paul’s, Jay Koziol is changing sides.

The veteran coach has signed on to lead the Saints’ defense under head coach Ham Barnett.

“I’m excited about the change,” Koziol said Tuesday. “After nine years at UMS, it was probably just time for something different. We definitely had a good run. I appreciate everyone at UMS, especially the players. There were a lot of nights where we were undersized and probably overmatched but played with great technique and leverage and unbelievable effort and had a lot of success.”

Koziol’s defenses helped UMS to three straight state titles from 2017-2019. Seven of his nine defenses held opponents to less than 200 points for a season, including just 58 in 14 games in 2018 and 106 in 2019.

He joined Terry Curtis’ staff in 2016 after 25 years in Baldwin County, including a stint at Robertsdale’s head coach. Curtis retired earlier this year and was replaced by Sam Williams.

“After coach Williams was hired, Ham reached out to me and asked if there was any interest on my end to join their staff,” Koziol said. “I told him there was, and we started talking some. He’s been short a coach. He was a position coach, coordinator and the head coach. He said, ‘Jay, if I can get you, it would make my life so much easier.’”

Barnett said he was “very comfortable” turning his role of defensive coordinator over to Koziol.

“My role is going to be head coach finally and not defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach,” Barnett said. “I’ll still have my hands on the DBs a bit, but Jay will learn our system and get acclimated, and my plan is for him to be the guy who calls it.”

Learning Barnett’s system may not be difficult for Koziol.

“In my first year at St. Paul’s, I studied his defense and basically installed it with my own terminology,” Barnett said. “I was a big 3-4 guy when I came to St. Paul’s from Theodore. Jay ran a stack and was multiple with fronts. I spent a whole offseason studying everything they did and installed my version with the kids here. I think we will work well together.”

Koziol said he is ready for the next challenge in his career.

“I have a lot of respect for Ham and his staff,” he said. “It’s a good program with really good players, and I’m excited to build relationships with them and get to meet everyone in the school and community and, hopefully, finish my career as a Saint.”

Koziol’s first game with St. Paul’s? At UMS-Wright on Aug. 22.

“It’s about two groups of boys playing football,” he said. “It will definitely be different, but it’s really not about me or them. It’s about kids playing the game they love.”