Mark Stephens has been named Cullman’s interim football coach.

The team was informed on Tuesday.

Stephens, who currently serves as the school’s vice principal and athletic director, takes over for Mark Britton, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in late September.

The longtime head coach learned of his diagnosis just days after announcing he would retire at the end of the 2017 season — his 17th with the program. Britton is scheduled to undergo surgery at a later date.

Stephens will coach his first game for the Bearcats on Friday, Oct. 20 at Southside-Gadsden. He had been a defensive assistant and outside linebackers coach until now.

The 1994 Cullman graduate has made past stops at Holt, Bob Jones, Paul Bryant, Spain Park and Hueytown. He led the latter program to a 3-7 mark in 2013 in his only season as a head coach before arriving at Cullman.

“It’s obviously a less-than-ideal circumstance for coach, his family and our school,” Stephens said. “If there’s a positive that comes with it, it’s a great learning experience for our kids on how to deal with adversity. Those are the things we are trying to coach. Coach Britton poured his heart and soul into this program, and we owe it to him to compete for the rest of the season. I’ll do the best that I can do. We’ll try to stay focused and give this story a happy ending.”

Britton, meanwhile, caps off a fine career at Cullman with a 134-63 record, 14 postseason appearances, three region titles and zero losing seasons at his alma mater. He surpassed Oliver Woodard as the winningest coach in school history during the 2013 season.