St. Michael Hires First Head Football Coach

Scott Phelps has been hired as St. Michael’s first head football coach and will begin working with the school in a full time capacity this summer. Phelps was athletic director and head coach of Robertsdale’s football program from 2005-2011 and head coach of Leroy High School from 1994-2005, and has an overall coaching record of 116-93. During his tenure at Leroy, his teams won a state championship in 2004, were state runners-up in 2001, and made two semi-final appearances in 1994 and 2005.

St. Michael Athletic Director Paul Knapstein liked what he saw in Phelps right away: “He’ll bring great leadership and wisdom to our football program. Not only have his teams played for state championships and won titles, he is also a man of faith and integrity. He’ll be a great teacher and a good role model for the student-athletes of our school, and we believe he is ready to step back onto the field.”

Phelps is eager to start: “I would like to thank Principal Weber and Coach Knapstein for giving me the privilege of becoming the head football coach and physical education instructor. I look forward to creating a program the entire student body, faculty, and community can be proud of, both on and off the football field. It will be an honor each day to help our student athletes reach their highest athletic and spiritual potential. Over the next several weeks, I hope to visit our elementary schools and get to know the future student-athletes who will be the foundation of our program. To them I say: ‘Come, be first, and help us build something special.’ Go Cardinals!”

“I was a principal and president of a 2A/3A school (Montgomery Catholic) in the 1990’s and early 2000’s,” principal Faustin Weber remembers, “and was very familiar with Leroy High School, regarded as one of the best small school football programs in the state. Early on, we’ll be similarly sized, so I am thrilled to have someone with Scott’s pedigree and character build the school with us. He’s a deeply Catholic man, excited to work for the first time in a school where he can marry his passion for coaching with his faith. We interviewed many candidates locally and in other states for this important position, including those from the college ranks, but in the end, Paul and I were convinced that our best choice was right here in Baldwin County.”

Phelps has been married for twenty five years to Renee Busby, who is a fifth grade teacher at Summerdale School. They have four children: Tyler (age 21), Trista (20), Kate (18) and Jack (14), and are members of St. Lawrence Church in Fairhope.