Craig Flanigan is out as Hanceville's head football coach after two seasons.

Craig Flanigan’s brief tenure as Hanceville’s head football coach has come to an end.

Flanigan — who took over the program prior to the 2016 campaign — claimed a 4-16 record with the Bulldogs, who ended the season riding a nine-game losing streak after collecting a home victory versus Cold Springs in Week 0.

The 1992 graduate returned to his alma mater after spending time at Austin, Walker and Hayden in various assistant roles. In doing so, he became the first African-American to hold a head coaching job inside Cullman County.

Flanigan contributed to 25 wins and two region crowns during his playing days from 1988-91.

“It definitely caught me off guard,” Flanigan said. “Sometimes when you make progress, it’s not always pretty. But I was brought here 16 months ago to do a job, and I didn’t get it done. I do understand that it’s a tough decision to make. Bottom line, though; I didn’t get it done. I’d like to thank those who gave me the opportunity to come home and coach at my alma mater. Not everyone gets the chance to accomplish that dream, but I did.”

Principal Jimmy Collins, who confirmed the news Wednesday morning, released a statement regarding the change.

“Hanceville High School would like to thank Craig Flanigan for his time spent as our head football coach. However, we have decided to go in a different direction with our football program. Coach Flanigan is an outstanding man; he and I have been friends since kindergarten, but we need to get our football program competitive again. Our school and community have a strong tradition of winning. We want to see us get back to that tradition.

We feel like we have a lot of talent on the field but, unfortunately, going 1-9 and competing in only two of those 10 ball games doesn’t reflect that. We plan to begin our search for a new head coach immediately and will make a decision by May.”