There is no doubt, Mark Freeman is one of the hottest high school football coaches in Alabama.

No, I don’t mean hot like “sexy” hot…come on people, I have a girlfriend.  I mean hot like knows-what-he-is-doing kind of hot. Any question about his transition from APSA football to AHSAA football and his ability to win at the 5A level was answered this past fall as Freeman led the Gulf Shores Dolphins to the best record in the schools history.

It was one year ago last Wednesday that Gulf Shores Principle Dr. Ernie Rosado and the administration officially announced the appointment of Freeman as the new coach, and for most student athletes, parents and fans, things couldn’t be better.

At his appointment, Dr. Rosado said “We are confident that Coach Freeman has the winning set of credentials we need to take our athletic program to great heights,” and indeed, there is already evidence of that happening.

I have played and followed sports all my life, and I am supremely aware that it takes good athletes to have a good program, and there is no doubt that Gulf Shores has some very fine athletes.  But under Freeman, the 2009 Dolphins football team went 9-3 and made it to the second round of the playoffs, something they had never done before.

They opened up with two big wins over Baldwin County and Robertsdale and lost 21-20 in an overtime nail-biter to Spanish Fort, a game that the Dolphins were not expected to win, but could have easily won had the ball bounced their way.

They destroyed LeFlore in the regular season, destroyed Citronelle, destroyed Escambia County and destroyed St. Paul’s at their place, 33-14.

The Dolphins’ 9-3 record is the best record in the schools 10-year history, they won all of their home games, and outscored opponents 381-199.

You will (hopefully) recall an article I wrote back in August about the positive attitude coming from the practice field in Gulf Shores.

It’s true. Practices were very spirited, yet incredibly organized. Coaches were vocal yet spent a lot of time teaching. Onlookers noticed something special about the way Coach Freeman was conducting practices, something they had never seen before.

Yet, in the midst of all of these positives, the naysayers arise.  It happens everywhere, in every geographical location, in every sport, at every level.

Somewhere today, running around Gulf Shores, is some idiot who has never played a down of football in his (or her) life, putting a damper on a program that has obviously stepped things up since last January 13th. Somewhere, someone is spewing venom and attempting to criticize the very man who has put his heart and soul into turning boys into men, pupils into students, and turning an average program into a force to be reckoned with.

And it is not just football.  The boys basketball team has yet to lose an area game.  The girl’s basketball team is looking much better than they did a year ago. And there are high expectations for baseball and softball.

Reggie Jackson was right when he said, “Fans don’t boo nobodies.”  So was Lance Armstrong when he said, “A boo is a lot louder than a cheer. If you have 10 people cheering and one person booing, all you hear is the booing.”

Other schools are no longer looking to schedule Gulf Shores for homecoming, just ask St. Paul’s. Teams are aware that coming to Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium is no longer just a nice drive down to the beach.

Thankfully, most fans along the Gulf Coast recognize the improvements that Mark Freeman has already made to this high school program in only one year’s time.  They see the pride, the positive attitude and yes, the results on the scoreboard.

So to those of you who insist on trying to bring down a man who has done nothing but good since he got here, will you do everyone a favor and just shut up?

Thanks!

-Hit ‘em straight!