After spending a summer without a head coach, the Montevallo Bulldogs met their new leader Monday afternoon, former Oak Mountain Middle School head coach Mike Reynolds.

Reynolds met with players and led workouts Monday afternoon after his transfer was approved by the Shelby County Board of Education July 9.

“It looks like we’ve got some skill guys that can make some plays,” Reynolds said. “We have a foundation to work with.”

Reynolds succeeds Jim King, who resigned from Montevallo in May to become wide receivers coach at Mountain Brook High School, replacing Jeff Harris who was hired as the new Oak Mountain High School coach in the spring — a position which Reynolds was a finalist for.

During King’s time as head coach at Montevallo, the Bulldogs were 30-31 and plagued with midseason injuries the past two years that helped keep them out of the playoffs.

That’s one thing Reynolds hopes to change.

“I’m very familiar with the injuries they’ve had. I’m definitely looking at their strength and conditioning. Injuries are going to happen, but there are some things you can do to avoid them,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds has a background in conditioning, working as the strength coach at Tulane University after completing his playing career at the University of Alabama in the 1990s. He was a member of the 1992 national championship team as a walk-on.

Over the past three years at OMMS, Reynolds has led the seventh and eighth grade teams, going 14-2 over the last two years with the eighth grade.

He said he does not see a large change coming in offensive and defensive plans this year, since it is late in the game. And while he said he’ll adapt his game plan to his talent, he prefers to run a balanced attack of half spread and have I-formation.

“I want to keep it familiar with the what the guys have been running. I want them to be able to relax and make plays. I don’t want them to be thinking a whole lot about a new plan,” Reynolds said.

Prior to OMMS, Reynolds was head coach at Greensboro High School and Acron High School. He also coached at Bibb County.