Another Central Georgia coaching bomb drops: Alligood resigns at Northside

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          On Sunday, Chad Alligood was on the Northside High gym floor paying tribute to longtime Eagle trainer Vonnie Hitchcock, who was retiring after 21 years of keeping athletes going.

          Among the tribute-payers were former Northside head coaches Kevin Kinsler and Conrad Nix.

          Little did anybody know that within 24 hours, Alligood was to officially become a former Northside head coach.

          Alligood posted on social media Monday at 2:34 p.m. that he was resigning.

pic.twitter.com/qREHBKQEvy

— Coach Chad Alligood (@chad_alligood) December 12, 2022

          “I have been blessed in so many ways during my coaching career. Not many people can say their dreams become a reality but mine did in 2020 when I was named Head Football Coach at Northside High School. Today I am resigning as the Head Football Coach at Northside High School. It has been a great 3-year ride and I would not change one thing. I go to sleep at night knowing I gave Northside all I had and really tried to make a difference each day in the lives of our players and coaches. I wish nothing but the best for Northside moving forward.”

          He signed it, with a longtime team motto underneath: “Tempo-Love-Compete”

          An attempt to reach Alligood about an hour after his post was unsuccessful. This story will be updated after he is contacted. 

          As resignation letters go, speculation will clearly be along the lines that Alligood was forced out after three seasons and a 21-15 record.

Keeping it in the Northside family: Alligood approved as the Eagles’ new head football coach, AD

 Help wanted, Northside: Kinsler resigns at 100 wins in 10 seasons

          With Alligood as offensive coordinator, covering three period, Northside went 104-33. As per message-board complaints, there was a faction that wanted more passing in the offense – even when the Eagles went to three state championship games in a five-year period, winning in 2014.

          The 2021 season was an odd one, the Eagles going 9-4 and reaching the Class 6A quarterfinals, but losing by 42, 45, 34, and 41 points.

          Every one of the Eagles’ 15 losses under Alligood came to ranked teams in classes 5A (Jones County, Warner Robins), 6A (Houston County, Thomas Couty Central, Lee County, Marist, Hughes, and Richmond Hill), and 7A (Colquitt County).

          Northside won six times against ranked teams, including 3A Peach County. The Eagles knocked off four top-10 teams in 2022, including then-No. 2 Lee County.

          The losses in 2022 were by 6, 7, 4, 10, and 19.

         A faction of the fan base appeared to think the Eagles were loaded with talent under Alligood and underachieved. But last February’s signees went to LaGrange and West Goergia, with signees a year earlier headed to North Alabama, GMC, Sterling, and Erskine.

          The county in general hasn’t necessarily been a Power-5 pipeline in recent years.

          Alligood preached Northside’s standards, and tried to fill the staff with Northside grads. He tweeted on March 17 that “We will have 9 NORTHSIDE Alumni on our football staff this upcoming season! When you are TRUE BLUE it’s where you want to be. It’s great to be a Northside Eagle.”

          Alligood isn’t a major social media player, but the vast majority of his posts include that last sentence, or the abbreviation of IGTBANE. The same went for most of his assistants’ posts.

Dec. 12: Another Central Georgia coaching bomb drops: Alligood resigns at Northside

Dec. 8: Campbell un-retires, taking over at Westfield, Fitzpatrick returns to baseball full-time

Dec. 6: Pope resigns at Putnam County, Williamson at Hawkinsville

Dec. 2: Central’s Sample out

Nov. 30: End of an era, Chad Campbell retires from the only place he’s worked, Peach County

         Alligood took over after Kevin Kinsler resigned following a 3-7 season in 2019, Northside’s first losing season since 1991, when the Eagles went 3-7 in then-head coach Stan Gann’s sixth season.

          The resignation ends a long association with Northside for Alligood. What was the difference back in mid-January of 2020 when he got what he called his dream job?

          “I think my love for Northside High School,” Alligood said that day in a conversation with The Central Georgia Sports Report. ““Somebody might could come in there and talk better than me or have a better resume than me.

          “But nobody was gonna come in there with the love for Northside High School that I have. Nobody was gonna come in there and have been through Coach (Conrad) Nix) and Coach Kinsler …”

          Alligood followed the start of his coaching career at John Milledge with his first stint at Northside, under Nix. He returned to alma mater Wilkinson County for a year before coaching at Perry and FPD, coming back to Northside in 2010 when Kinsler took over.

          Alligood’s head coaching debut came at Washington-Wilkes for two years, going 10-12 in 2017-18. He returned to Northside as the offensive coordinator for that 2019 season, the Eagles’ 183 points their fewest since 1991 season.

          He was named to succeed Kinsler about two months after Kinsler’s announcement. Kinsler soon was named as an assistant at Westfield in Perry, and that ended earlier this season after an in-game disagreement with then-head coach Rob Fitzpatrick, who resigned last week to return full-time to baseball.

          Alligood graduated from Georgia College, got his masters as Columbus State and education specialist degree from Georgia College.