Momma called and Jason Howard answered. After seven seasons as head football coach at Spring Garden, Howard was formally approved as the new head football coach at Ohatchee by the Calhoun County Board of Education Thursday night. The Cherokee County board is expected to officially accept Howard’s resignation in early April.

Spring Garden principal Mike Welsh said Monday afternoon that the school would not begin a formal search for Howard’s replacement until the state legislature has approved the education budget for the next school year. When that happens, and Welsh said he was hopeful that would occur in April, the job will be posted and applications received and reviewed.

Despite the fact the job is not yet officially open, “We’re receiving some calls of interest,” Welsh said.

The uncertainty surrounding the education budget makes it unlikely a new head coach will be in place to conduct spring practice.

“Our assistant coaches (Tony Benefield, Stan Jones, Damon McDonald, John McKay, Kevin Ward) are going to take care of that,” Welsh said. “We’ll have our spring as we had planned and try to get our kids ready.”

The decision to leave Spring Garden was a difficult one for Howard. He described returning to Ohatchee as “going home.”

“The only place I’d ever leave Spring Garden for was Ohatchee. That community has kept up with my career. It’s a very close community, like Spring Garden,” Howard said. “There is no doubt in my mind, I would not have considered leaving Spring Garden for anywhere else.”

Howard graduated from Ohatchee in 1989. In his senior season, 1988, the Indians were 8-2 in the regular season and area champions before losing in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs. Howard was a guard on offense and nose guard on defense and was a first team All-County pick as an offensive lineman as a senior.

After spending Friday at Ohatchee, Howard was apprehensive about his reception at Spring Garden Monday. He needn’t have been.

“They’ve been great,” he said of his Spring Garden players. “I was nervous (Monday) morning when I went back (into the classroom). They hugged my neck. They came up to me and said, ‘No matter what, you’re always going to be our coach.’”

Howard’s first season at Spring Garden, in 2003, was his first as a head football coach. The Panthers had never won a playoff game before his arrival. That changed when the 2008 team finished its regular season 8-2 and third in its region. Spring Garden defeated Ragland 42-14 on the road in the opening round of the playoffs the lost to Gaston. Last fall, the Panthers captured a second consecutive third place region finish in what was supposed to be a rebuilding season then defeated Coosa Christian in the playoffs 52-34 before falling to Gaston 14-13.

“I was blessed to be able to have some great assistant coaches working with me, great administrators and great players,” Howard said. “The run that we’ve had over the past four years has been really special.”

The run included wins over Collinsville in each of the past three seasons, two wins over Valley Head in the past two years and a win over Cedar Bluff in 2007.

Success didn’t come overnight. Howard’s first two teams were 1-9 and 1-9. Seasons of 4-6, 3-7, 5-5, 9-3 and 6-6 followed. He credited his players, particularly their dedication to the off-season weight lifting program, for the change.

“It was hard working kids who bought into the program,” Howard said of the turnaround. “I hope the kids have taken enough pride in it that they don’t take a step backward.”

“First and foremost, we’re losing an excellent classroom teacher,” said Welsh of Howard’s departure. “We’re going to miss him to say the least. Coach Howard’s got a tremendous work ethic. From the time he started (at Spring Garden) ‘til the time he finished, that energy did not diminish.”