Riggs returning to coach the Raiders

Former T.R. Miller head football coach Jamie Riggs retired after the 2015 season with a 305-81 record and four state championships under his belt and now the 62-year old coach is looking to add to those numbers as the new head coach at Houston Academy in Dothan.

Riggs was named as the Raiders' new coach last week and said he will begin his tenure there later this month.

Riggs said when he retired at T.R. Miller he had no set plans to return to coaching, but kept the door open.

"I really thought at some point in time I'd get back into coaching," Riggs said. "I was just waiting for the right opportunity and this seemed to be the right opportunity."

He said he explored opportunities out of state and with private schools so he could continue to draw his Alabama state retirement. He said the fact that Houston Academy plays in the Alabama High School Athletic Association was a big plus.

Riggs said he was impressed with Houston Academy's desire to improve its football program.

"That's what attracted me to the job," Riggs said. "They want a successful football program."

The 3A Raiders failed to make the playoffs the past three years, haven't won a region game since 2015, finished the 2017 season 0-10 and are riding a 19-game losing streak.

"They haven't had much success the last few seasons so it's going to be a slow rebuilding process," Riggs said. "There will be a lot of little steps to take. Being a private school in the city of Dothan is a new landscape for me."

Riggs said he will be in place to hold spring training sometime in May.

"I'll take a look and evaluate everything from coaches to players," Riggs said. "I've got to put a staff together. I want to do it slowly and do it right."

When questioned about the ability to recruit at a private school, Riggs said there were recruiting issues in both public and private schools and feels the Alabama High School Athletic Association will pass new rules to address those issues and curtail recruiting.

Riggs said he's already looked at film of Houston Academy games last year and will go there with an open mind.

"Numbers (of players) have been a problem," Riggs said. "They are in the low 30s so we'll have to work on getting the numbers up."

"Obviously we'll take a look at where they are now and work from there," he said. "We'll see what we can do now and work toward seeing what we can do in the future."

Houston Academy will be playing in the same 3A classification as T.R. Miller, but Riggs said it was way too early to say whether the Tigers and Raiders will meet on the football field.

"They've lost 19 in a row," Riggs said. "We don't need to talk about that yet. My first goal is to establish a foundation to build off of."

Riggs said he and his wife will move to Dothan but said he will still keep his house in Brewton.

He did say one big change is the fact that the Raiders colors are blue and white.

"I didn't have any blue clothes, so I had to go buy some," Riggs said.