This is an opinion piece.

The date Oct. 10, 2025, has been circled on at least one family’s calendar for a while now.

That is the night Baker will host Foley in a key Class 7A, Region 1 football game.

However, it’s much more than that.

It also could mark the first time in Alabama high school football history that identical twin brothers will face off as head coaches.

Eric Scott, the oldest by a minute, is entering his first year as Baker’s head coach.

Deric is entering his sixth year at Foley.

“It will be an emotional deal for sure,” Deric said. “For my family, it’s a culmination of a lot of hard work on both sides not to mention a lot of prayers from our family, our mother, our friends. I only wish my parents were still alive to see it.”

Deric and Eric faced off in recent years, but Eric was an assistant coach at Baker in those meetings. When Juan Johnson left to take the James Clemens job in the offseason, the Hornets promoted Eric to head coach.

“We understand as brothers that we have to compete against each other, and that’s fine,” Eric said. “But I think for each of us it just shows that, through hard work and dedication, you can obtain whatever you set your mind to in life. That is what I’m trying to teach our young men at Baker daily.”

Eric has been an assistant coach under Deric at both Vigor and Foley. The two helped the Wolves to the Class 5A championship game in 2018. Even AHSAA director of communications Ron Ingram, a Hall of Fame prep sportswriter for generations, couldn’t remember two twins facing off as head coaches, though brothers have faced off on a number of occasions.

“If it has ever happened, I don’t know about it,” Deric said. “I think it is a 100 percent first, and it resonates with Eric and me. A lot of people helped us get to this point. I’m not here by myself. We both are standing on the prayers of a lot of people — coaches, community members and church members.”

Deric got his first head coaching job at Vigor in 2015. He went 41-21 with the Wolves, including the 13-2 run to the state finals in 2018. He is 24-26 so far at Foley where he also spent time as an assistant coach.

Eric got his first shot at B.C. Rain in 2008. The Red Raiders struggled to a 10-20 record during his three years there, and he’s been waiting for his next shot since then.

“The fire never left,” he said. “I didn’t want to take just any opportunity to be a head coach. I applied for several jobs, knowing that I may not take them even if I got them. The road to becoming a head coach is not easy. I got a lot of nos along the way. But it continued to fuel me to fight and grow myself, so I was prepared when I got the next chance.”

The brothers decided they wanted to be high school coaches while playing at Monroe County High. Their focus never changed.

“Johnny Pleasant was one of my high school coaches and a deacon at my church,” Deric said. “He passed away a few years back. He had two sons. His son, David, was one of the best players in the state. Everywhere he took his sons, he took Eric and I for free … Florida State, Auburn, Alabama. That’s how we got to college. That is what made me want to be a coach.”

There are plenty of games for both brothers to worry about before they get to Oct. 10.

Deric and the Lions open the season at home against Baldwin County on Aug. 22. Eric and the Hornets host Theodore the same night.

In the meantime, the rest of the family will be waiting for the second Friday in October.

Task Force update

The AHSAA’s new Transfer Task Force is set to meet again on Aug. 12, executive director Heath Harmon told AL.com this week.

The first meeting was held May 28.

Harmon said the AHSAA rolled out the new transfer column on Dragonfly at the end of the summer conference last week. Dragonfly is the site used by the AHSAA for team rosters and schedules.

He said every school now is required to designate any student-athlete who transfers to their school in the last 365 days.

“We expect to get some really good data out of that,” he said. “We will come back on Aug. 12 and revisit the timeline and see what we need to do moving forward and evaluate the next steps.”

The AHSAA announced in April that it would launch a task force to investigate non-compliant transfer student-athletes after a unanimous vote by the Central Board. The decision followed a presentation by Alma Bryant head football coach Bart Sessions and Mountain Brook’s Chris Yeager that included data showing clusters of transfers at a handful of unspecified Class 6A football schools.

“The goal is to look around and find out if there is something that can be done to create a little bit of equity,” Sessions said of the Task Force at Mobile County Media Days earlier this week. “There are some haves and some have nots in this transfer business. I could really care less about how people are getting those transfers. That is for someone else to argue.

“Are they compliant? Are they non-compliant? Are they non-compliant but you can’t prove that they are non-compliant? In today’s day and age, it’s going to happen. Transfers are going to transfer. They are going to go to the shiny new place. That is going to happen to some degree. Maybe every transfer in the state is legitimate. I would like to think so. I would like to think coaches in the state aren’t doing something they shouldn’t be doing.

“But we certainly recognize it’s a problem, and when that data hits the public and you can see some of the schools who are historically maybe not very successful and now all of the sudden are leading the pack … Why is that the case? Well maybe it’s because of an influx of 30 new players.”

Big honor for Husky assistant

Hewitt-Trussville defensive coordinator Sean Talsma has been named Alabama’s 2025 High School Broyles Award winner.

The Frank and Barbara Broyles Foundation recognizes a top assistant football coach in each participating state from the previous season. Selection is based on what happened in the film room, on the field and on game day.

According to a release from the Foundation:

“While character and integrity remain important components of the selection process, the primary focus is excellence in coaching results — aligned with the values and competitive spirit that defined Coach Frank Broyles’ legacy.”

Talsma’s defense allowed just 104 points in 11 games in 2024 – an average of 9.5 points a game. No opponent scored more than 17 points in a single game and six were held in single digits.

Thought for the Week

“Life is not about what we know, but Who we know.”

Ben Thomas is the high school managing producer at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected].