CHELSEA – Todd Cassity is taking the next step in his coaching journey as he says farewell to the Chelsea Hornets.
Cassity announced on Tuesday, Jan. 6 that he will step down after four seasons at Chelsea, and in addition, he will retire from teaching at Alabama public schools.
“Obviously, it's been an amazing four years here,” Cassity said. “Four years that I'll cherish for the rest of my life, some great memories, some great people. Assistant coaches, administration have been amazing, and I appreciate all of them so much for what they've poured into this program for the past four years.”
Cassity said he decided to step down now to give Chelsea more time to pursue a successor while he determines his next step.
“I've got 28 years in (coaching), so it's been an amazing run here, but I just felt like now would be the best time for Chelsea as well,” Cassity said. “I didn't want to keep just thinking about it and thinking about it and then putting Chelsea in a bad situation either. So, I just did a lot of praying and thinking over it over the holidays and I just felt like now was the best time.”
He finishes his tenure with the Hornets with a 14-27 record, including an 11-10 mark in the past two seasons in Class 6A. Cassity started his career in uncharted territory for Chelsea as it faced its first seasons in Class 7A and went a combined 3-17 while facing the perennially challenging Class 7A, Region 3.
The school dipped back down to Class 6A in 2024, and the Hornets contended for the playoffs in both seasons.
Chelsea started the 2024 season 6-0 to match the best start in school history and clinch its first playoff berth since 2021. However, three-straight losses to playoff teams and a last-second defeat to 7A rival Oak Mountain put the Hornets in the No. 4 seed, and they lost to eventual state runner-up Saraland in the first round.
Chelsea nearly matched that start in 2025 by going 5-1 in its first six games but dropped out of the playoff picture with losses in each of the last four games, which once again included three playoff teams and Oak Mountain.
The Hornets faced plenty of adversity during those seasons. In addition to the move for two seasons to 7A, the program lost players due to Shelby County Schools allowing Mt Laurel residents to switch to the Oak Mountain zone and suffered multiple key injuries to star players, including the back half of the 2025 season.
Despite all that though, Cassity said the players continued to show up ready to practice and play and also grew off the field as students and young men. While the records were not always what he wanted, their work ethic and character growth are things he continues to take pride in the players for.
“The biggest thing I was always looking for was our kids to work hard and to play hard, and I felt like every game we did that,” Cassity said. “The wins, the losses, you would always want to have more wins than the losses, but sometimes you’ve got to look for the successes in other things, and I felt like our kids, they did really well in the classroom, they did really well on the on the practice field and on the football field for games, and I'm proud of all these guys, the way they've worked hard and they gave us everything they had every time they stepped on the field.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Chelsea athletic director Michael Stallings as he reflected on how Cassity made the school better and was a great example for it.
“Todd's got a great opportunity in front of him,” Stallings said. “As an athletic director, I wish him the best, and he's going to make the most of the opportunity that he has. In his four-year tenure, Todd's been a great ambassador for the program. His leadership throughout his time at Chelsea has been outstanding. Ultimately, that's what I'm going to miss the most is what he brought every day, not only to football, but just to all of our kids in general. He interacted with many kids on a daily basis and made them better, and that's just the type of person he is and the type of human being that he is.”
Cassity ends his Alabama public-school career with a head coaching record of 74-72 across 13 years. He coached for two seasons at Gordo in 2005-06, going 16-9 with a 2A second round berth in year one and 3A third round berth in year two, and seven seasons at J.B. Pennington from 2015-21, finishing 44-36 with playoff appearances in his final six seasons in Class 3A. He reached the second round in four of those six trips.
He also served as the offensive coordinator at Pleasant Grove for seven seasons between Gordo and J.B. Pennington and started his career as an assistant with Maplesville and Demopolis.
It all culminated in an eventful four years that Cassity said he’ll look back fondly on. He got the opportunity to coach his son through his graduation in 2024, oversaw significant facilities improvements like a new home stand, video board and renovated locker room and also built relationships with the community that he will cherish for years.
Now, he says he’s passing the torch on to the next coach to keep moving Chelsea in a positive direction on and off the field.
“The memories with the players, the memories with the assistant coaches,” Cassity said on what he'll cherish most in the years to come. “I raised a son here, graduated a son here. So, it's a great place. I'm sure that there will be a lot of interest in this job and I feel like the facilities that we've improved here over with the city and the county helping and I feel like this has become an amazing spot for someone to come in and continue to build.”
800.501.6209
Service Areas
