The Alabama High School Athletic Association officially announced the inevitable Wednesday – that Auburn and Alabama would drop out of the rotation to host the high school football state championships due to the expanded college football playoff.

Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium and Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium have been the host sites on a rotating basis since 2009. Birmingham’s new Protective Stadium joined a three-site rotation in 2021.

The question now is what is next for the Super 7?

“There are several cities that have been asking about it and want to be a part of it,” said AHSAA executive director Alvin Briggs. “The process is going to happen. It will be the next staff and the Central Board acting on it. There will be a request for proposals that we will send out and try to figure out what is the best fit for our member schools and the Association.”

Protective Stadium in Birmingham already was set to host the Super 7 this December and also is the scheduled host site in 2027 and 2030. Briggs said there are advantages to rotating the games to multiple sites, though he said new executive director Heath Harmon and the Board will make the ultimate decision on the future of the event.

“What we’ve learned is it gives the volunteers a chance to rest by rotating it,” Briggs said. “What we’ve asked of Auburn and Alabama and now Progressive is that they treat it just like a college game day with everything – security, the way they run the whole gameday process. By doing so, you get a first-class event and that is what you want. When you do that, you are talking about 500 to maybe 700 volunteers to work the event, and most of those same volunteers have previously worked college weekends. Then you are going to do it in three consecutive days where, during the college season, you’ve had weeks in between. We don’t want to wear them out by doing it back-to-back-to-back. You take all that into consideration when making a decision. It was a blessing that we were able to do that at Auburn and Alabama and do it a high level.”

Having the games at Jordan-Hare and Bryant-Denny gave the state’s student athletes the chance to experience college traditions that were unique to each school. Briggs commended the two schools for putting college rivalry aside to give high school athletes a first-class experience.

“As people react to the fact that we are moving from Auburn and Alabama, I hope they realize that the biggest rivalry in the nation opened the door for high school athletics in the state of Alabama,” he said. “That is bigger than anything – that they put their rivalry aside to open the door and allow high school athletics to happen on a busy weekend with graduation, closing campus, always something going on. They opened it up for us to have great championships, and it is a great omen for society to put that rivalry aside to benefit our schools.”

Saraland coach Jeff Kelly and Auburn High coach Keith Etheredge have coached teams in both venues.

“It’s kind of sad,” Etheredge said. “You hate to lose that chance for kids to see those campuses, but I think it does open something up for other schools like a South Alabama or a UAB where kids can come in and see those campuses and stadiums as well.”

“It definitely was a great experience for our kids to get a chance to go and play at those stadiums they see on TV every week,” Kelly said. “That made it a little extra special. However, I also think getting some of those bigger championship games in a smaller stadium wherever it may be could create a really unique and intense environment. It will be an opportunity to bring a different feel to the games for the kids.”

Briggs said three cities already have reached out about the possibility of hosting future Super 7 events, though he wouldn’t name them.

Danny Corte, executive director of the Mobile Sports Authority, has made it known what he would like to bring the games to South Alabama. Hancock Whitney Stadium currently hosts the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game every other year and the North-South All-Star football game every year.

“It (Wednesday’s announcement) definitely has created a lot of talk,” Corte said Thursday. “Hopefully, we’ve got the city, the council, the hotel folks, the school system and South Alabama teed up and ready to go. It’s just a question of where do we go from here. I don’t know Heath Harmon, but I plan to get to know him. He’s going to be my good friend before it’s over.

“All we can do is give it our best shot. If we are one of three sites with Birmingham and Montgomery, we’ll take it. I would rather us have it every other year, but if we were one of three that is still a big deal. We’ll just have to see what their appetite is and what they want from us.”

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