Photo by Erin Nelson.
Andy Urban, the new athletic director at Mountain Brook High School, stands by the trophy case at Spartan Arena. Urban begins his role with MBHS on June 1.
Andy Urban’s focus for much of the last decade has been on creating an environment for success within the walls of Hoover High School and its athletic department.
So, when he learned of Mountain Brook Schools athletics director Benny Eaves’s impending retirement, he did not give the situation much thought beyond the fact of his friend and colleague stepping away from the profession.
“I love Hoover and love my job,” Urban said. “I wasn’t looking and wasn’t in the mood to listen. But the wheels started spinning and God started opening doors. And here we are.”
Those open doors led to Urban being named the new Mountain Brook Schools AD, effective June 1. He will conclude a nine-year tenure as Hoover’s AD in May.
Initially, Urban did not feel the timing was right. His daughter, Anna Kate, is in fourth grade, and moving her to a new school did not seem to be an ideal option.
But there were positive conversations with Mountain Brook Schools Superintendent Dicky Barlow, followed by the naming of Carrie Busby as the new Mountain Brook High School principal. Urban and Busby worked together for many years at Hoover.
“A lot of the timing things fell into place to where it felt like a good opportunity to make a career change and go to a different situation,” Urban said.
Urban will take over a high school athletic department that has been no stranger to success in recent years. During Eaves’s eight years as Mountain Brook AD, the Spartans won a combined 35 state championships.
That number won’t faze Urban, though, who has overseen 39 state titles in his nine years leading Hoover’s athletics department.
“The biggest thing at Hoover that has changed is the standard for every sport involved,” he said. “When I took over, there was an expectation for the big three [football, basketball, baseball], but now, every sport is running at the highest level. The expectations from everyone are to compete at the highest level for every sport.”
Urban does not believe he can simply take every bit of his blueprint from Hoover and install it at Mountain Brook, because the culture and style at both places are unique.
“Hoover has a unique way, Spain Park has one, Mountain Brook has theirs. [Mountain Brook’s] is a success-based model and I don’t know all the ins and outs of it yet, but that’s the biggest thing I see from any school,” he said.
Urban played baseball at Wallace State Community College and the University of South Alabama before embarking on a coaching career that took him to several high school stops.
He was at a career crossroads when Hoover athletic director Myra Miles and Principal Don Hulin paved his road into athletic administration.
“They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” Urban said. “This school allowed me to grow into what I am today and I’m proud of what we’ve done as a school. … I’m very thankful for it and very proud of it.”
His first task upon taking the Mountain Brook job? Figuring out where all the light switches are.
“Things are different everywhere you go,” he said.
