Former West Lauderdale head football coach Stan McCain is now an assistant coach at Mary G. Montgomery High School in Semmes, Ala. McCain led the Knights to a 12-1 record last year, which included an undefeated regular season, and a second-round berth in the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs.

After almost two decades coaching football at West Lauderdale, Stan McCain is moving on to the next chapter in his life.

McCain has moved to Semmes, Ala., to work as an assistant coach at Mary G. Montgomery High School, which is just west of Mobile. McCain will draw retirement from Mississippi, he said, and will hopefully work long enough to do the same in Alabama eventually.

Through a friend, McCain said he was able to get the assistant coaching job at the school, and he said it has been an adjustment, but one he welcomes.

“It’s a little different, but it’s going to be good,” McCain said. “They had a new coach and needed some help. I feel like I have a chance to make a bigger impact on the coaching part. As a head coach, I don’t feel like I get to coach as much as I want to, and that’s what I like to do. It’s just a little change I have to get used to.”

A West Lauderdale coach in two separate stints, McCain first came to the school in 1997 and stayed through 2009 before coaching at Kosciusko from 2009-12. After that, he came back to West Lauderdale. He most recently led the Knights to an undefeated regular season and a 12-1 record, making the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A postseason.

“When I left West, I knew it wouldn’t be for any other job in Mississippi,” McCain said. “It was home, but at this point in my life, it was the best thing for me and my family.”

West Lauderdale didn’t have to look far to find its next head coach, as Brock Clay, who served McCain as defensive coordinator, will take over the reins of the program.

“Brock has done a great job,” McCain said. “He’s been in the community and grew up in the community. He knows everyone and has done a great job for me as defensive coordinator these last five years, and he’ll continue to do a great job. He’s already been a head coach, so he knows the ins and outs. He’ll put his own wrinkle on it, which is everyone’s prerogative. I think West Lauderdale is in good hands.”