Zedaker
Era Begins
At
Lincoln
Being
a sports
fan in
Talladega
County
means you know a good bit about your
neighbors in athletics. Teams in the
county are spread in classification from
Class 1A’s Talladega County Central
and Winterboro to 3A B.B. Comer,
4A Munford, and 5A’s Sylacauga and
Lincoln. It is that familiarity that made
the Matt Zedaker hire as Lincoln’s head
coach a perfect fit.
The Sylacauga native and Aggie alum
started his coaching career at Sylacauga
High School. In his 17-years at the school,
he worked with several well-respected
coaches including his defensive mentor
Tim Posey and head coach Matt Griffith.
When Posey retired, Zedaker took over as
defensive coordinator where he held the
post for six seasons.
“[Those men were] tremendous mentors,
tremendous friends who taught me a
lot of how to do things the right way,”
62 | 2017 Pigskin Roundup the Magazine
Zedaker said.
Being a former athlete in Talladega
County, Zedaker knew how important
athletics are to the community, especially
football. So when the Sylacauga-raised
man heard about the opening at Lincoln,
it was certainly appealing. “It’s a great
community, the facilities are second to
none,” Zedaker said. “Being a county guy
that has kept up with county football, I
know the athletes that have come through
this school. There’s a lot of Division I
athletes that have come through here like
D.J. Howard (Clemson) and Jonathan
George (Kentucky).”
In addition to the football, Zedaker
points out that he and the administration
shared the same values for the program.
“The principal here very much wants
things done right. Mr. (Roger) Brooks is
a former coach and he knows athletics.
With all those factors in, it was a no-
brainer.”
Lincoln’s proud history is also not lost on
Zedaker. In the 20 seasons from 1995 to
2014, the Golden Bears made 14 playoff
appearances. In 1999, Lincoln played for
the Class 3A state championship. The
1994 season saw the Bears made it to the
semifinals and the program qualified for
the quarterfinals five times.
“You think Lincoln football, two names
come to mind, Coach (Alan) Brooks
and Coach (Keith) Howard,” Zedaker
said. “Those guys were the epitome of
consistency as a high school football
coach. Knowing this community will get
behind [the program] and want some
consistency, that was very appealing to
me.”
This will be Zedaker’s first head football
coaching job, but he is not new to the
position of head man in the “other”
football. Zedaker oversaw a proud and
successful soccer program at Sylacauga.
In the spring of this year, the Aggies
reached the state semifinals in Huntsville
before falling to eventual state champion
Randolph. Zedaker coached Cole Grogan