Hanceville has chosen Levi Estes to lead its football program.
Principal Daniel Wakefield confirmed the hire, which became official on Friday.
Estes, 32, has spent the past three seasons at Oak Mountain, where he served as associate head coach, strength and conditioning coordinator, and run game coordinator for the Class 7A Eagles.
Now, he’s excited to return to the sideline as a head coach.
“I think Hanceville has a lot of potential,” Estes said. “One of the big things for me is that it was extremely similar to Dresden — roughly the same amount of kids, multi-sport athletes, a small school where you know your bearings. It seems like a good spot that has a lot of community support. The administration was straightforward and honest in my interview and getting back to being a head coach is going to be exciting. I’m ready to step into the role, get my feet on the ground and get to work.”
Before getting into coaching, Estes played college football at Bethel University, earning two conference titles as an offensive lineman.
He later became the defensive coordinator at Dresden High School in Tennessee, where he helped the program win a state championship in 2016 — the unit allowed just 161 points all season en route to finishing 15-0 — before getting promoted to head coach prior to the 2017 campaign.
Estes earned a 15-7 record and won a region title in two seasons before accepting a job as offensive coordinator for Lassiter High School in Georgia, where he assisted for two campaigns before heading to Oak Mountain.
“When I was in Tennessee, I was under a couple of really good coaches and I learned a tremendous amount,” Estes said. “Winning a state championship with a younger coach gave me the want-to to go be a head coach after seeing what success looked like. At the bigger schools like Lassiter and Oak Mountain, I saw what it takes to be successful and run a program as well. You’ve got to be organized with everyone on the same page. I think that’s something I’m able to bring to the table — pushing everyone in the right direction.”
According to Estes, that starts with “building relationships with players.”
“I think that’s one of the most important things you can do,” he said. “As far as the program, people can expect to see a disciplined and well-conditioned team. That’s one thing I took away from Tennessee. Being conditioned and playing a great fourth quarter was something we prided ourselves on. It’s huge at a small school. You’ll also see a group of kids that plays for each other and plays hard. We instill playing together as a family. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit. We’re all in this together and rowing the boat in the same direction. I’m excited to get started.”
Estes takes over for Ryan Brewer, who amassed an 11-19 record in three seasons with the Bulldogs. He’s also the second coach to take over a Cullman County program this offseason. West Point recently hired Kevin McCravy to replace Don Farley.