I saw several familiar sights Thursday night and I liked them all.

I saw a well-manicured, gorgeously landscaped football field. Mickey Miller Stadium, home of the Gulf Shores Dolphins, never looked better. But then again, I have never seen that stadium in the spring. Still, it was a beautiful sight.

I saw a football team, half of them dressed in dark blue jerseys with dark blue helmets. The other half in white jerseys and dark blue helmets.  They sort of looked like a team up in Birmingham called Bessemer Academy.

I saw football coach Mark Freeman calling plays, working the sidelines, slapping players on the helmet, and collaborating with his coaching staff. It reminded me of his days at, well, Bessemer Academy

It was kind of like déjà vu all over again.

Spring training is behind the Dolphins now, and I am anxious to see what Mark Freeman will do in his first stint as a head coach in the AHSAA.

As I silently stood by, watched, and snapped a few photos, I saw many resemblances in what the Dolphins are now doing and what Bessemer Academy did.

Many of the formations are the same.  Some of the audibles were the same. But why wouldn’t they be right?  This is Coach Freeman’s system.  There is no doubt that he is going to bring to the table things that worked for him in the past.

Listen Dolphin fans, don’t be upset if it seems I am comparing your team to my alma mater too much. Do I need to remind you what Mark Freeman did in Bessemer just before he was ‘let go?’

When he left BA, he had only won 51 of his last 52 games.  He had the team on a 26-game winning streak. In a six-year span, the Rebels had won four AISA Class 3A State Championships.

Players such as Harris Gaston who will be playing for Auburn this year, played for Freeman at Bessemer Academy.  Morgan Ogilvie, a quarterback this year at Alabama played for Coach Freeman at Bessemer Academy. Walter Arrington, running back for Birmingham Southern who was the SCAC Freshman of the Year in 2007, played for Freeman.

Want me to keep going? Brandon Heavens, who will suit up this fall for Mississippi State and who was rated by Rivals.com as the 33rd best athlete in the country is a former Freeman player.

Folks I could go on and on and on.  Former players who were students of Coach Mark Freeman are scattered all over the Southeastern United States. Many of them in the SEC.

The road is long and winding when you look at the Mark Freeman saga of how he ended up here in Gulf Shores.  His departure from Bessemer Academy was not a financial issue as reported in many media outlets in Birmingham. It was a simple case of a hard-nosed football coach not ‘pleasing’ the right people.  

You had “little” people who apparently had too much time on their hands (or not enough business at their little novelty stores) crying because their son wasn’t getting enough playing time. These were some of the same parents who had pulled their kids out of nearby McAdory High School (home of Vincent ‘Bo’ Jackson) for the very same reason. I guess they thought surely if they were not good enough to play at McAdory, they could play at BA.

Some made it a race issue. Parents were upset that some of the black students, at what had traditionally been an all-white private school, were getting to play instead of their children.

Here is what I say. Bessemer Academy’s loss is Gulf Shores’ gain.

The man who brought class, respect, and championship rings to Bessemer Academy and sent numerous players to the next level is now walking the sidelines at Gulf Shores.

So if I make too many comparisons to Bessemer Academy, I think you should just let it ride.

-Hit ‘em straight.

Dale Jones is a staff writer for The Islander.