There’ll be plenty of changes in Leeds High School athletics next season.
Not only will the Green Wave move from Class 4A into Class 5A competition, several new coaches will lead the way.
Leeds recently announced the hiring of Jeremiah Millington as the new boys basketball coach while softball coach Brian Gulock will also coach girls basketball next season. Erin Wright, who assisted the softball program last season, was named head volleyball coach.
Melissa Causey coached girls basketball and volleyball last season, but left the program.
"It was just timing where we made several coaching changes at this time," said principal Rayford Williams.
Millington comes to Leeds from Shades Valley where he served as an assistant in basketball and football. The former Hewitt-Trussville basketball and football star also coached at his alma mater.
Leeds won the Class 3A state championship and routinely competed among the top teams in the state. That hasn't been the case recently.
The Green Wave won four games last season and haven't produced a winning season since 2013.
"Our boys basketball is a rebuilding job," Williams said. "Jeremiah has been a really good assistant in the area for a while. Everyone raved about him and his work ethic. With his work ethic and determination, I think he'll be the guy to put it back together for us where we want to be."
Wright has held head coaching positions at Paul Bryant, Mountain Brook, Hoover, Oak Grove and Bessemer Academy. She was the assistant softball coach at Leeds last year.
She helped Mortimer Jordan to a state championship in 1999 and pitched at Alabama 2000-2004.
"She's just a coach," Williams said. "She's an athlete, a player and she knows how to relate to kids. It makes no difference what she's coaching she's going to be successful."
Gulock has been a coach in the system for several years and took over the softball program in 2017. Leeds was 10-5 this season before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of spring sports.