After two seasons at the helm of the West Blocton football program, Dre'Mail King turned in his resignation from his head coaching position on March 5.

King's resignation comes after leading the Tigers to back-to-back 6-5 seasons in 2022 and 2023, along with first-round playoff bids in both seasons. He saw two players sign scholarships to play collegiately — Landyn Scurlock (Shorter University) and Landyn Lindsay (Maryville College).

Off the field, King brought back Fellowship of Christian Athletes to the school, with King saying it now is averaging more than 70 kids per meeting. He created the care program, involving people of all ages from elementary school students to faculty members, to which he would have seven to 10 events in the offseason to give back to the West Blocton community.

He also created a social media and online college football recruiting presence at West Blocton, something it had never had before. He raised money for the football program, along with developing its coaching staff to having as many as 10 assistant coaches up from three. He also brought West Blocton its first opportunity to host a 7-on-7 tournament in the summer of 2023.

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"West Blocton is a very special place," King said. "About 90% of my experiences were amazing, but that 10% is just too much for me to deal with to be able to go back. That school, and those kids at that school, are amazing. I see nothing but bright kids who want an opportunity to do well. I loved my time inside the building."

A parent meeting called by the Bibb County School District Superintendent Kevin Cotner on Jan. 16 played a role in King's decision to resign.

"I'm resigning because a lot of things have happened that have made me very uncomfortable," King said. "... It got to a point where it was just hard for me to lay my head down at night."

Many of the things King implemented at West Blocton, like the care program, the school hopes to continue, principal Terry Lawley said.

"He's a unique individual," Lawley said. "He has a way of pulling people in, and I mean it just sets precedence that we'd like to continue many of the things he has put in place ... he really focused on leadership on the team, trying to do leadership committees. He brought in guest speakers, motivational-type speakers. We'd really love to try to continue many of the things he had in place."

Prior to his time at West Blocton, King, 39, began as an assistant to his alma mater, Central High School, before taking his first heading coaching job at Sumter Central in 2013. There, he led the Jaguars to 2-8 overall in their third season as a program.

He then moved to Georgia, where he spent time as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Meadowcreek High in Gwinnett County, followed by two seasons at Carver High in Columbus, one as head coach. He also coached in the East-West All-Star game in Georgia and was named the Gwinnett County assistant coach of the year in 2014.

In 2018, after returning to Alabama, he began as an assistant at American Christian Academy as co-defensive coordinator under former Patriots coach Chris Smelley. He took the head coaching job at Greensboro in 2020, leading the Raiders to a 6-5 record. Then, in 2022, King began his tenure at West Blocton.

While King resigned from his coaching position, he will continue teaching physical education at West Blocton through the remainder of the school year as he looks for his next steps.

The original version of this story has been amended to include the fact that West Blocton High School has produced other players who have signed college scholarships. Among them are: Kaleb Shadwick (Reinhardt), Jaylon Gaines (Reinhardt), Jake Vick (UWA) and Brennan Blake (UAB).

Anna Snyder covers high school sports and University of Alabama softball and football recruiting for The Tuscaloosa News. Reach her at asnyder@gannett.com. Follow her on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, @annaesnyder2

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: AHSAA football: Dre'Mail King resigns after two seasons at West Blocton