Brian Bradford is looking forward to “keeping the winning tradition” as the new Chilton County High School football coach.

Bradford will take the place of former coach, Donnie Hand, who has coached the Tigers’ football team for the past three years.

On top of his coaching responsibilities, Bradford will also serve as the athletic director.

He has been on the field training and coaching the Tigers, but will not be officially hired until the Chilton County Board of Education makes the final decision on Tuesday, June 17.

In addition to Bradford, there will be three returning assistant coaches. Deon Timmons, Phil Kamerer and Joe Jennings will join efforts with Bradford to coach the CCHS team. Bradford shared that more assistant coaches may be added after the Board of Education meeting.

The 38-year-old coach spent the last nine years as the offensive coordinator at Stanhope-Elmore, the high school from which he graduated.

Prior to his position at Stanhope-Elmore, he also served as offensive coordinator for Sacs High School and East-Limestone High School.

Bradford’s experience at the Class 6A competition level will be beneficial to the Tigers since Chilton County High makes the move to Class 6A this year.

CCHS has competed at the Class 5A level in recent years, but will officially rise to the Class 6A level in the 2014-15 school year.

The Tigers have made it to the state playoffs six out of eight previous seasons, and Bradford strives to uphold Chilton County’s victorious record.

“Right now, we are still evaluating the talent and figuring out who’s going to be where,” said Bradford. “We’re a little bit behind schedule since I wasn’t here in time for spring training, but we are making up for it with summer practices.”

Bradford was introduced at the Gridiron Club meeting on Tuesday, June 10.

He said that the Gridiron Club is also planning a meet-and-greet event so that he has the opportunity to get to know the parents of his players.

Despite the late start on training, Bradford is anticipating a successful season.

“We have a lot of good talent and should be able to do some great things on the field,” Bradford said.

In addition to physical talent, Bradford also sees the importance in discipline and respect from his players.

“Having good sportsmanship will be a main priority for us too. The boys have to have integrity over anything else,” Bradford said.

Summer workouts are well underway, focusing on strength, agility and learning plays.

The Tigers have plans of attending a July football camp in Wetumpka, and other plans for 7-on-7 practice games and summer camps are being made.

“Making the leap to 6A is a big deal, and my job is to prepare them for the competition they will be up against,” Bradford said. “We will be working to bring home some championships.”