This year Doug Gann won’t be on the sidelines as the receivers coach for Homewood High School or coaching from the dugout in the spring, but 25 years into his career, he’s excited to be in a new role as AD. He’s coached at the school for the past 18 years, most recently as head baseball coach, and he played baseball along with basketball and football there as a student himself. This fall is also his son Tripp’s first season on the football field at Homewood Middle, and his daughters Macy and Kate cheer at the high school.
You grew up in Homewood. What drew you back as an adult?
My mother did a lot investigating on school systems, and she wanted me in Homewood. My parents still live in the same house they have lived in for 40 years now. Most people who have a chance to get back to Homewood will come back to Homewood. It’s just an awesome place to live and raise a family.
What have been some highlights of your time at Homewood both as a student and as a coach?
In 2000 we won a five overtime state championship game. It might be the greatest state championship game ever played. We had a great run from 2000 to 2006, winning four state championships and a runner-up.
Homewood won a state championship in football in 1974, and from ‘74 to ‘84 we were not in the football playoffs. My sophomore year we made the playoffs, my junior year we made it to the semifinals, and my senior year we made it to the finals and got beat. I was neat to be a part of getting Homewood football back on the map.
What can we expect to see from the football team and other sports this fall?
The cross-country boys have won the state champions several times in a row, and the girls won it last year. There’s a new volleyball coach, Krimson White. Our football team went 5-6 last year, and we think we are going to be better this year. In football, CD Daniels has been offered by quite a few Division I colleges, Tyshawn Buckner is a wide receiver who is probably going to garner some attention, Nick McCoy is a running back we expect big things from.
Your dad Gerald Gann was a football coach at Homewood from 1979-1994. What have you learned from him?
I never saw him get too high or too low. He kept everything pretty much even keeled all the time, and I think it helped him make good decisions not in an emotional state of mind. He was a good person to look up to. I worked for him and for Coach Bob Newton at Homewood and Coach Bob Finley at Berry—those three guys are all in the Alabama High School Hall of Fame. Being around those men has helped me become the man I
have become.
What makes Homewood’s athletic culture unique?
Our students are very supportive of our athletic events. It doesn’t matter what sport…our students get very involved. I think it’s because of the friendships and relationships they have with each other.
