HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Following a 0-10 season for the Bulldogs, changes were made in Hanceville, just not when anyone expected.
Less than six weeks from the start of the 2026 season, former head coach Levi Estes stepped down from his position, and former offensive play caller Cody Sellers was given the reins.
It would be easy for any program, especially coming off the season the Bulldogs had, to spiral after such a late change. Instead, there’s a new buzz in the air in Hanceville.
“Oh, it’s been a surprise, but exciting. I was definitely shocked when it all went down, but very excited and very blessed with a great group of kids. I couldn’t ask to work with a better group of young men. The attitude and the efforts have been tremendous. We’ve even got more turnout than we had originally, and you can just kind of feel a little hope and excitement in the air, and that’s really kind of powering us through,” Sellers said.
The first-time head coach will shoulder the weight of calling both the offensive and defensive plays. Despite most recently being the offensive coordinator for the ‘Dawgs, Sellers has prior experience as a DC, learning under Matt Geohagan at Bibb County, who he called “one of the greatest defensive guys in the state of Alabama.”
The 2025 Hanceville defense struggled, to say the least, giving up 66.3 points per contest. Over the summer, that glaring area of concern has become a bright spot for the Bulldogs, with Sellers saying the defense is, “One of the things I’m most excited about so far.”
Sparking that excitement is the return of middle linebacker (and quarterback) Jackson Sellers, who tore his ACL prior to the ’25 season. He and Nick Davis will patrol the middle of the field behind an even defensive front in their scheme.
“I’m very excited about our secondary as well, where you got Leusby and Xavier Malcolm on the same side of the field. It just gives you, as a coach, so much confidence. The back side, you have Irvin Lucedo, you have Ezra Pruitt and you have Brayden Rogers,” Sellers said. He added, “We’ll struggle with depth this year, but one of the places that we don’t struggle with depth as much is going to be on that defensive back end. As coach right now if you asked me ‘what part of this football team are you most confident in?’, it’s the back half of our defense.”
Up front, the defensive and offensive lines will have faces and questions in common. After starting four freshman on the lines last year at times, those same players have come back with new strength, experience and wisdom.
“If you watched last year, you’re going gonna think, ‘wow, where did these lines come from?’ It’s going to be the same kids, they’re just older, they’re wiser. They’re not thrown into the mix so much. They had to step up and play some real quality 3A ball as freshmen, and even though we took our lumps with them last year, you can just see the confidence and comfort in them this year,” Sellers said.
Who exactly the offensive line will be protecting at quarterback is unclear for the Bulldogs, with the position battle still underway. The first option, senior Jackson Sellers, was described as “your more traditional quarterback,” with a big body and arm, and a power-running style. The other is senior Zavier Malcolm, listed at 5-7. The size may not be traditional for the position, but the decision making, speed and change of direction certainly are. Both play a different style of football, which Sellers said could give the team an advantage, holding a positional “1-2 changeup.”
Adaptability is a theme of the Bulldogs’ offense, with Sellers saying the team will use multiple looks after building the playbook around his players’ strengths.
“I’m one of those, ‘take what you got’ coaches. First you have to look at your personnel, then we devise our scheme around the strengths of our players. I believe a coach’s number one job is to put a player in a position to succeed. There’s an old saying, you know, ‘you can’t do it for him’ and I understand that, I believe that, but you shouldn’t consistently ask a kid to do something that is not in his wheelhouse. So we are very multiple on offense. We like to do a lot of different looks, a lot of different formations, a lot of different motions. We may line up five-wide empty, we may line up in two tight i-formation. We will mix it up from time to time, but we won’t have something the kids don’t feel comfortable in, because comfort’s going to equal confidence and confidence usually equals results,” Sellers said.
Leading the group of offensive playmakers is 6-foot sophomore receiver Ezra Pruitt, who’s complemented by Nick Davis and A.J. Carnathan, who Sellers described as, “one of the most vocal leaders on the team.”
In the backfield is one of the largest surprises of camp thus far according to Sellers, running back Irvin Macedo, who will share reps with Leusby. Powered by their playmakers, the offense will need to keep their momentum from ’25 after landing in a new region with former 4A teams like Oneonta, Etowah and Susan Moore.
On the shaken up region, Sellers said, “I think it’s going to be tough every single week, especially in our position. There’s no off week. There’s no, ‘okay, we kind of let our guard down a little bit and breathe.’ No, I mean, every week’s going to be a dog fight, but I am excited. I am excited about the newness of the region. I am excited to travel in the region, we won’t have to go as far as other times. So, you know, the Lord, don’t make mistakes and everything just lines up the way it’s supposed to.”
