Enterprise, Faulkner part ways

On Friday, Nov. 16, Enterprise High School and head football coach David Faulkner parted ways.

Faulkner confirmed the departure to The Sun and Enterprise Principal Brent Harrison also confirmed the departure in a news release.

“Today, Enterprise High School football coach David Faulkner resigned his position as head football coach of the Wildcats,” the statement read.

Faulkner had been at the helm of the Wildcat football team for the previous seven seasons, including all five of Enterprise’s seasons in Class 7A, and compiled a record of 38-38 in those seasons.

“He was a valued member of Enterprise High School and the coaching staff,” Enterprise City Schools Superintendent Greg Faught said. “Both he and his family were very important to our school system and we are very appreciative of their service to the school.”

Faulkner’s Enterprise teams went 2-4 in the playoffs but were left out of postseason play the previous two seasons.

Faulkner came to Enterprise after a very successful three-year stint at Fairhope High School where he compiled a 28-9 record, and before that was a very successful offensive coordinator at Alma Bryant, Prattville and Hoover.

In 2016, Faulkner was named The Southeast Sun/Daleville Sun-Courier Coach of the Year and Class 7A Coach of the Year as he led the Wildcats to a 10-2 record before falling in the quarterfinals of the playoffs in an exciting matchup with McGill-Toolen.

“I’ll always have great memories of Enterprise,” Faulkner said. “It’s been a really wonderful seven years for us.

“On the field, we didn’t win as many ballgames as we wanted to the last two years but we made some incredible relationships with the people in the community, the administration and obviously our players and coaches. Those will be life long treasures that I carry with me.”

Faulkner plans to get right back into the thick of things as a football coach in the future.

“Right now I don’t have any solid set plans,” Faulkner said. “I just have to get out there and see what opportunities are available for me and pick the one that I think is best for me and my family.”

According to Faught, the search for a new coach started immediately but EHS wants to find the right person for the job.

“We’re beginning our search immediately and we want to find a replacement as soon as possible,” Faught said on Friday. “I’m going to take all the time that’s needed to get the right person for the job but we want to work as quickly as possible to get the right person, too.“

Faught said that the school plans to have a coach in place well before spring practices begin in April.

A report surfaced from another media outlet over the weekend claiming that “sources” had indicated that Faught and EHS had already made their minds up on whom the next coach would be. Faught said that report was simply untrue.

“I was surprised that it was reported in that way,” Faught said. “It’s simply not true. We’re just beginning the process of vetting some of the applications that we’ve received so far.”

Faught did, however, confirm that he had been in contact with the coach in question – Apopka (Fla.) High School’s Rick Darlington – but that decision was far from being made.

“I have been in contact with (Darlington) but that doesn’t mean that he’s going to be our coach,” Faught said. “We’re going to go through the process and select the right person for the job. There’s a lot of good candidates out there and we’re certainly keeping an open mind about it.”

Faught said that he and Harrison would ultimately make the decision on who the next coach would be, but that process was just beginning.

“We’re going to see how it goes and see who all applies,” Faught said. “If we’re not happy with the field of candidates we may reach out to others ourselves, but I want to see who applies and go from there.”