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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – One of the brightest lights to come out of Oak Mountain High School will soon be enshrined forever after his light was snuffed out from the world too soon.

The late DJ Looney will become the first jersey to be retired by Oak Mountain High School. Athletic director Chris Blight announced the honor at the end of the third annual Oak Mountain Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 18 at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church.

“A lot of people look up to what DJ achieved on and off the field and in his career after,” Blight said. “He had an incredible playing career, an incredible coaching career and there’s a lot of people who look up to that and remember that. That success has been noticed and we want to continue to remember DJ in everything that we do.”

The ceremony will take place during the 2025 football season but a date will be announced in the coming months.

During his football career with the Eagles, Looney became one of the best offensive lineman in Alabama and was nationally ranked as the No. 11 center in the Class of 2007 while starting for two seasons in 2005 and 2006.

Looney earned All-County First Team honors in both seasons as well as selections to the Class 6A All-State Second Team in 2005 and First Team in 2006.

On Jan. 18, he was inducted into the Oak Mountain Hall of Fame as a member of the 2005 football team, which set the school’s single-season wins record with a 10-4 record and made the program’s deepest run in the playoffs with a trip to the Class 6A semifinals.

Looney also wrestled at Oak Mountain and was at one time ranked as the top heavyweight wrestler in Alabama.

Looney was a four-year letterman at Mississippi State before starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Bulldogs under Dan Mullen in 2011.

He would then go on to coach at East Mississippi Community College and Central Arkansas for two seasons each as well as Georgia and Mississippi State for a year apiece.

From there, he joined Louisiana-Lafayette’s staff as the offensive line coach in 2018. Unfortunately, that would prove to be his last stop as he died of a heart attack during a team workout on Aug. 1, 2020 at the age of 31.

Looney earned the nickname “The Mayor” in high school for his warm spirit and joy that he brought to both the classroom and football field. After Looney’s death, his high school offensive coordinator Chris Love said Looney was famous for getting along with everyone and often times detouring to another teacher’s classroom to chat on a bathroom break.

“He was the mayor of Oak Mountain,” Love said. “A bunch of people told him he needed to be a politician because he could get you on his side in a heartbeat. He walked the halls shaking hands and we always joked about him kissing babies.”

That sentiment was shared by his former high school head coach Jerry Hood. He said that Looney played with a physical streak on the field but his biggest impact came from his personality and positive attitude which carried on into his coaching career.

“He was a physical kid as a player, but he was so happy and jolly and a warm guy to be around,” Hood said upon Looney’s death. “He had that unique ability to pull everyone together. That was his gift. He made everyone around him feel like they were a gift on earth and that is a true gift.”

Blight said that Looney left an everlasting impact on the Oak Mountain community through his personality and his action. To him, this is a fitting gesture to teach future generations about his life and legacy.

“It’s a great touch for a person who impacted so many people at Oak Mountain,” Blight said. “DJ’s nickname was ‘The Mayor.’ That’s because everyone knew him, and he walked around with an infectious smile, and he impacted so many people not just at Oak Mountain but afterwards too. It’s just a really nice, special way to remember an incredible person.”