By SHERRY DIGMON
News Staff Writer
The Escambia County Board of Education accepted Rico Jackson’s resignation at the December 20 meeting. At the same meeting, they approved the hiring of his replacement.
Jackson, who was head coach at Escambia County High School for a year and a half, announced in early December he was leaving to take a head coaching job at Murphy High School in Mobile.
Thursday, the board hired Scott Mason, most recently Florala High School’s head coach since 2017.
Coaching positions Mason has held include the following:
* Head coach / athletic director, Fruitdale High School, 2007-2009
* Offensive coordinator / athletic director, Saraland High School, 2010
* Offensive coordinator, Faith Academy High School, 1990-95, 2012
* Offensive coordinator, Vigor High School, 2011, 2013-14
* Offensive coordinator, Citronelle High School, 2005-06, 2015-16
* Head football coach / athletic director, Florala High School, 2017–December 2018
Mason, who is recognized as the founder of the “Lightning and Thunder” spread offense, graduated from the University of South Alabama in 1989 with a bachelors in business administration and a secondary social science and history.
Coach Mason is married and has one son. He is from Citronelle. In his spare time, he enjoys writing, reading and hunting.
At Thursday’s meeting, the board also recognized the Flomaton High School Hurricanes. The football team took the 3A Football State Championship, defeating #5 Piedmont 23-12. Piedmont had won two state championships in the past three years and had played for another.
Flomaton High School opened in 1925, and no other FHS football team had made it beyond the state quarterfinal round of the playoffs.
News photo courtesy of Gretchen McPherson / Tri-City Ledger