From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
PINSON — Pinson Valley head coach Patrick Nix has informed his team that he is leaving for the head coach position at Central-Phenix City High School.
Nix met with his team at about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning to break the news.
In his three years at Pinson Valley, Nix led the Indians to back-to-back 6A state championships in 2017 and 2018 and the semifinals this past season.
The move puts Nix closer to Auburn University where his son, Bo Nix, is the starting quarterback for the Tigers.
Nix finished his tenure at Pinson Valley with a 38-4 record and two state championships.
He joined the Indians in 2017 along with Bo, who transferred from Scottsboro. Nix, the former Scottsboro head coach, said at the time that the Birmingham area, job opportunities for his wife, who is a nurse, and simply a chance to impact a new school and new community all went into his decision.
“It had a lot more to do with the off the field stuff than on the field about the job,” Nix said.
Nix is a former Auburn University quarterback and college football head coach. He replaced Matt Glover, who was terminated as coach and AD by Principal Michael Turner.
While at Scottsboro, Nix led the Wildcats into the playoffs all four years of his tenure – including a first-round loss in the 2014 6A playoffs to eventual state champion Clay-Chalkville. His most successful season at Scottsboro came in his final season, where they went 12-1, losing in the Class 5A quarterfinals to Wenonah, the eventual state champion. The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the state the final three polls of the regular season. His four-year record at Scottsboro was 28-18, which was his first high school coaching stop.
In his seven years as a high school coach, Nix is 66-22 and 15-5 in the playoffs.
He has also served as an assistant coach at Miami and Georgia Tech, where he was the offensive coordinator at both places. His other stops include Charleston-Southern, Jacksonville State and Samford, and he served as the head coach at Henderson State. Nix spent 16 years coaching at the collegiate level.
He new team, Central-Phenix City, finished the 2019 season with a 12-2 record. The Red Devils fell to Thompson in the state championship game, 40-14.
Central-Phenix City has won two state championships, the most recent coming in 2018.
Throughout the past five seasons, Central-Phenix City has won 56 games and claimed six straight region championships. The Red Devils have not had a losing season since 2008.
Nix replaces former Red Devils’ head coach Jamey DuBose, who left on Jan. 7 to become the head coach at Lowndes (Ga.). Nix was approved by the Phenix City Board of Education on Tuesday afternoon.
Red Devil Nation, please welcome to our Red Devil Family our new head football coach, Coach Patrick Nix. 🤘 pic.twitter.com/MuZmEzJysW
— Red Devil Football (@CHSREDDEVILS) January 14, 2020