Eagles part ways with football coach Tyler Crane

Oak Mountain High School is searching for a new head football coach.

After two seasons, the school has parted ways with head coach Tyler Crane. The Eagles posted a 3-7 record this fall, failing to qualify for the state playoffs."We have decided to go in a different direction with the leadership of our football program," Oak Mountain High School Principal Andrew Gunn said. "We appreciate Coach Crane's service to our school and community. … We hope to have a head coach in place by the second semester."

Oak Mountain struggled in 2022, losing seven straight games after a pair of season-opening wins over Northridge and Pelham. Six of those losses were in Class 7A, Region 3 play, plus a game against crosstown foe Briarwood.

But the Eagles won their final game of the season, beating Spain Park 9-3 to end the year on a high note.

Crane's first season had some high marks, as Oak Mountain posted a 7-5 record in 2021 and advanced to the second round of the state playoffs.

Led by star quarterback Evan Smith, the Eagles got off to a 6-1 start, the best in program history. They also beat James Clemens 38-35 in the first round of the playoffs on a game-winning Garrett Murphy field goal.

Before being the head coach at Oak Mountain, Crane served as an assistant coach for two years at the school in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He graduated from Jacksonville State University and has coached at Sand Rock, Winterboro, Cherokee County (twice), Foley, Northridge and Central-Phenix City.

Oak Mountain’s next coach will be the sixth in program history. Prior to Crane, Cris Bell spent nine years leading the Eagles.