FAIRHOPE, Alabama — Fairhope High principal Beverly Thomas confirmed Feb. 9 her recommendation of Adam Winegarden of Hillcrest High in Tuscaloosa to be the next head football coach and athletic director for the Fairhope High School Pirates.

Thomas said she would formally submit her selection to the Baldwin County Board of Education this Thursday. If approved by the board — which may vote the following week in its Feb. 23 meeting — Winegarden will replace David Faulkner who coached the Pirates from 2009-11. Faulkner announced his decision to move and become the head football coach at Enterprise in December. He resigned effectively, Jan. 1.

Thomas said she had not intended to comment directly on the decision until submitting it Thursday, but was concerned about talk of Winegarden on social media. She said of all the candidates, he was the right one to recommend to the board for Fairhope. She added there were a lot of qualified coaches to consider.

The Tuscaloosa News’ website tuscpreps.com said Winegarden confirmed his acceptance of the offer and told his players last Wednesday he would only resign from Hillcrest if the Baldwin BOE voted approvingly.

Calling it, “an extremely difficult decision,” the father of four said the decision was necessary for his family.

Winegarden, 34, took over at Hillcrest in 2010 and led the Patriots to a 9-2 season and a school-record 12-straight wins last fall until losing to Hoover 21-14 in the quarterfinals of the 6A state playoffs.

His 2011 offense averaged 37 points per game while holding opponents to 11.7 ppg on defense.