Spain Park head coach Tim Vakakes talks to his team after a game between Spain Park and McAdory during the first round of the 2025 playoffs on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, at Spain Park High School. Photo by Richard Force.
August 3 marks 17 days until the official start of the high school football season, with the AHSAA allowing the first competitions to be played Thursday, Aug. 20.
Spain Park will open the season in 18 days, as the Jags travel to Sparkman in the season opener Friday, Aug. 21.
As kickoff approaches over the next several weeks, Hoover Sun and Under the Lights will count down the days until the opening kick.
Tim Vakakes is heading into his fifth season leading the Spain Park football program and has led a resurgence of the Jags, leading them to the state playoffs each of the last two years. Spain Park went 12-1 and reached the quarterfinals in 2024, the Jags' first appearance in the postseason after a six-year hiatus.
The Jags reached the second round last year and finished with a 9-3 record.
Vakakes has a record of 31-14 in four seasons at Spain Park, and came to the Jags after a nine-year head coaching tenure at Jackson-Olin in Birmingham. He rebuilt the program there, leading them to the playoffs in 2016 for the first time since 1999. His team went 10-1 in 2018 and won a playoff game in 2021.
Vakakes has a record of 80-59 in 14 years as head coach.
