A.L. Johnson head coach Mose Jones retires

After 31 years as a teacher and coach at A.L. Johnson High School, Eagles’ stalwart Mose Jones announced his retirement Thursday.

Jones, who has been the head coach of the A.L. Johnson football team since 1993, intended to retire after the 2014 season. However, a car accident he suffered back on Jan. 3 redirected those plans.

“I probably could go back, but I couldn’t be functioning like I really want to,” Jones, who spent his entire career serving his alma mater, said.

Jones, who has also served as the coach of the school’s basketball team for the last several years, sustained a broken neck during the accident and was forced to spend 19 days in the hospital.

“It’s real hard to walk away,” Jones said. “I’ve been thinking about it over and over and over. It really hit me after I had that accident. It kind of dawned on me. The good Lord blessed me to still be alive, so I’m just going to call it quits and be a spectator.”

Jones led the Eagles to an 8-3 season in 2013, a campaign that ended with a 28-20 overtime loss to Autaugaville in the first round of the Class 1A state playoffs.

“It’s hard to walk away from the group I’m leaving because they could be one of the better 1A teams in the state,” Jones said.

Jones ends his career at 113-108 after 21 seasons as the A.L. Johnson head coach, a career in which he led the team to the playoffs 11 times.

“It’s meant a whole, whole lot. Dealing with the kids in the classroom and, in particular dealing with them on the field and on the court. I’ve been like a father to a lot of them. It has just been great. It really gave me some experience on how to raise my kids. It has been a real good ride for me,” Jones, who began his career as an assistant at ALJ, said. “It’s hard to walk away.”