Southside High bounces back from losing head football coach to Selma High by announcing new hire Tuesday

A week after losing their longtime head football coach to rival Selma High, Southside High School announced on Tuesday a new coach has been named.

Josh Thacker, former offensive coordinator at Morgan Academy and Pike Road High, has been named head football coach at Southside High in the Dallas County School System.

"They thought Southside was down for the count, but that setback was our SETUP," the school said in a social media post on Tuesday.

Southside's announcement of hiring Thacker came just over a week after Selma High held a press conference and community meeting on April 27 to introduce Southside's coach Charles Moody as their new football leader. Moody also is bringing with him to Selma High his son, rising ninth grader and record-setting quarterback Kole Moody.

Thacker will be introduced to the Southside community in a Meet & Greet event on Thursday, May 7 at 6 p.m. and alumni, parents, athletes and "community stakeholders" are invited.

Thacker has held many coaching jobs in the Black Belt over the years, including offensive coordinator at Demopolis High, Prattville High, Pike Road and Morgan Academy.

Southside said in its announcement that Thacker has seven years of head coaching experience and was named the 2018 AISA Coach of the Year.

"After Prattville, Coach helped lead Demopolis High to back to back region championships and two of the top scoring offenses in Alabama. Coach then moved over to Pike Road where his offense totaled 454 points on the way to another region championship and a 6A semi final playoff birth," the statement said.

On his Facebook page, Thacker said they are hiring assistant coaches and will be releasing training days for players soon.