After Albertville City Schools decided a few weeks ago to rename their football stadium in honor of legendary head coach Vernon Wells, much research into the program’s history led to the question of which team was the best in the 118-year history of Aggie football.
Due to recency bias, many remember the 2002 Aggies as the team’s best performance. Under head coach John Glass, best known for his success as head coach at Jacksonville State from 2014-2021, the Aggies finished 9-4 that season and surprisingly made it all the way to the third round of the Class 5A state playoffs.
The Aggies finished the regular season with a 7-3 record and went 4-3 in regional play to clinch the No. 4 seed in the playoffs. Albertville defeated rival Boaz, 35-19, and Guntersville, 28-9.
In his only season in Albertville, Coach Glass led the Aggies to two of the team’s three total playoff victories.
In the first round, Albertville went on the road and accomplished what many thought was impossible, defeating Gardendale, 28 to 14. Gardendale was undefeated and considered the strongest in all of 5A.
In the second round, the Aggies hosted Athens and won 14-7 to advance to the quarterfinals, marking the longest playoff streak in Albertville football team history, but the Aggies’ playoff run came to a halt the following week when Hartsell won 34-7.
All-State selections included David Sigler and Michael Durden. Glass was named Coach of the Year.
The Albertville team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2002.
Other teams considered to be the greatest in Albertville history would be the 1907 squad which went 3-0, 1 draw and outscored its opponents 94-12, or the 1911 squad which went 8-0 and outscored its opponents 282-12.
Or you could take a closer look at some of the memorable teams from 1919-1922.
In 1919, the Aggies finished the season with an 8-1 record and outscored their opponents by a score of 216-52.
In 1920, Albertville finished the season with 7 wins, 0 losses and 1 tie, outscoring teams 300-14.
In 1921, the team finished the season with a 7-1 record and outscored their opponents 193-26.
And in 1922, Albertville finished with an 8-2 record and outscored its opponents 117-66.
And, of course, we can’t leave without giving flowers to the 1929 Aggies. They finished the season 10-2, the first 10-win season in program history. This Albertville team outscored their opponents by a staggering 342-26.
But I would argue that the 1953 team coached by Wells is better than the others for a simple reason: it is the only team in the program’s history to win a football championship.
In his fifth season as Albertville’s head coach, Wells has led the Aggies to a 7-2 record with one tie.
Albertville dominated local rivals Boaz 19-0, Guntersville 21-0 and Arab 28-0, with its only losses coming to Etowah 27-12 and McAdory 13-0.
Their only draw was a 13-13 tie with Emma Samson, an impressive feat considering they were undefeated and one of the strongest teams in the state at the time.
After a tie and win against Guntersville, the Aggies were named the Class AA District 4 state champions by the Birmingham News.
So who do you think is the greatest team of all time? The 1953 team? The 2002 team? Or another team?
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking a closer look at the history of high school football programs in the area to determine which teams are the greatest of all time.
What better way to prepare for the 2024 high school football season?
Publisher’s Note: Statistical and historical data provided by the Alabama High School Football Historical Society (AHSFHS).
