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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CHELSEA – The Chelsea Hornets announced they hired Scott Lowery as the head coach of the varsity softball program and the defensive coordinator and safeties coach for football on Thursday, June 8.

“I’m excited for this challenge, but it’s a great opportunity,” coach Lowery said.

Lowery comes in after five seasons at Helena as the head softball coach and football strength and secondary coach. Lowery took Helena softball to the 6A state tournament in all four seasons and to the state championship game in 2022.

He also helped the Huskies football program to one of their most successful runs in program history with four straight winning seasons and state playoff appearances in 2019 and 2021.

It was difficult for Lowery to leave because of the people at the school as well as the softball and football programs, including coach Jim Elgin, his defensive coordinator from the past 17 years.

“It was tough,” coach Lowery said. “I mean, there’s good people over there. Good as far as people to work with and players, and I have nothing bad to say about them.”

The opportunity to be in charge of the entire defense while still coaching softball appealed to Lowery after he spent years as a position and strength coach.

Lowery and his family were also already looking to move from Hoover over the summer, so he said the timing worked out perfectly. They also loved what they saw in the city of Chelsea with its tight-knit community and the mayor and city council’s support of youth sports.

His two daughters play softball, and even though they are still 10 and 6 years old, he’s looking for ways where he can lead them on the field one day.

“It is tough on my kids just because they’re leaving their friends, but they’re excited for this opportunity,” coach Lowery said. “And I want somewhere where they can grow and I can end up coaching them eventually.”

The move reunites Lowery with second-year Chelsea head football coach Todd Cassity, who he worked with at Pleasant Grove for six years.

Lowery is excited for what Cassity is doing at Chelsea, from the stadium upgrades he has pushed for to the culture that he’s creating.

“They’ve got a lot of good kids that seem to work hard and they’re buying in to what coach Cassity’s selling,” coach Lowery said.

“He’s put in a lot of love and support and things to those guys that they have deserved for a long time that they hadn’t gotten. And it’s exciting how they believe in him. And so that’s another thing that caught my eye to get my attention to go over there.”

He arrives at Chelsea at a crucial time for the athletic department. The school just finished its first year at the 7A classification and had losing seasons in both football and softball.

Despite their recent records, Lowery says he’s optimistic about the talent pool for both football and softball. He pointed to the Hornets softball team’s eight selections to the All-South Metro teams and two state titles in 2012 and 2016.

He wants to help the softball team work on their offseason training, particularly in the weight room, and get the players to buy in to the idea that they can be a successful team.

“There’s definitely talent there,” coach Lowery said of Chelsea. “It’s just my job to try to maximize that talent and get them to have some belief in what they’re doing and have them to just feed off each other. Because a lot of times, yeah, it’s tough.

“You can make excuses and say, ‘Hey, it’s 7A,’ but I mean, that’s the hand we’re dealt, and the more that you make excuses, the more that people are going to get even better in front of you because your mindset has changed. My job is to get in there and try to change that mindset and just to help them have some belief and some direction that’s a little bit greater than what’s been there.”