Trojans led by new head coach for 1st time since 2008
Things are going to look a lot different for the Muscle Shoals Trojans as they take to J.F. Moore Stadium this fall.
Partly because the 2026-2028 ASHSAA reclassification has moved MSHS down to Class 5A and given them a new region.
But mostly because it will be the first time in 19 years that the Trojans will not be led onto the field by head coach Scott Basden, who retired in the offseason.
His 170-50 record and multiple playoff appearances speak for themselves.
However, the Muscle Shoals players are still in familiar territory as far as the head coach goes.
Michael Darden takes the helm of the program after spending five years as offensive coordinator.
“Being a head coach has always been a goal of mine,” Darden said. “I’m actually going into my 19th season overall coaching football. Muscle Shoals is just different. The way these young men go about it and the standard that has been set over the past 18 to 20 years.
“The way these guys work every day, there is a standard they rise to. I have been other places that are just not the same. The physical brand of football that these guys play, it doesn’t happen everywhere. The community, they love it.”
As far as the Trojans themselves go, not much will change in the team’s philosophy either.
“When something isn’t broken, I don’t think you need to try and fix it,” Darden said. “We have made tweaks here and there. What we do on a daily basis has remained the same. If it has worked for the past 18 years — and past five years I have been here — we are not going to change a bunch of things.”
While the region itself has changed, two of the teams that were added — Austin and Florence — were nonregion opponents the Trojans were already playing.
Darden said having familiarity with the new region opponents is always a plus.
“I think it’s an advantage,” he said. “Florence and Austin are in our region, and we played them nonregion the past few years. We know those guys and what to expect.”
Another big change in the region, 5A-7, is the return of the Muscle Shoals – Russellville rivalry game. The two haven’t met on the gridiron since 2013.
“Some of the guys on staff were here when that was a big rivalry, and they are marking that game on the calendar,” Darden said.
One big game that remains is the annual Muscle Shoals – Hartselle game, which Darden said has determined the region champion each of the five years he has been with the program.
Instead of it being the final region game of the season, the Trojans and Tigers will meet midway through the 2026 campaign.
“No matter where that game is on the schedule, it’s always going to be a good game,” Brionni Jones said. “Its just dogs meet dogs. They are well coached, and we are well coached. It’s always fun to be up against Hartselle”
“That’s a game on the schedule you don’t have to get these guys up for,” Darden said. “They know what to expect. It’s always a great game. I don’t think it being earlier in the season is going to make it any different.”
There’s a popular saying that iron sharpens iron, and many coaches across any sport like to schedule tough opponents outside of region play to raise the level of competition their team sees.
For the Trojans, this comes in the form of a Week Zero road game on Aug. 21 against the Hoover Bucs.
Hoover has been in Class 7A since 2014 and is a traditional power in the Alabama high school football world.
However, the Bucs are coming off a 6-5 campaign and are looking to rebound.
Still, a program the size of Hoover is going to provide a tough challenge no matter what the scorebook looked like the previous year.
“Games are hard to come by, especially with us up here in northwest Alabama,” Darden said. “Schools our size are hard to come by. You may have to travel and be willing to go a long way to play somebody. Their coach reached out. They were looking for a Week 0 game.
“I texted a couple of guys on the staff, and they said, ‘Let’s go.’ It will be a great opportunity. I think it’s important, especially early in the year, to play games that are against playoff-caliber opponents in different environments. We are all looking forward to it.”
