ALTON - Cody Markle, who was head football coach at Alton High School for the past three seasons, has stepped down from the position, and the search for his replacement will begin almost immediately.
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In a press release issued by the school's athletic department, Markle was thanked for his leadership during the past three seasons, and hopes to have a new coach hired by the spring of 2026.
"We will post this very soon," said Alton athletic director Chris Kusnerick in the release, "and we will hope to start the interview process sooner rather than later. As always, we would love to have an educator who can also fulfill the role of head coach in our building."
With expansion coming next season to the Southwestern Conference, with the return of Collinsville and Granite City to football, plus the additions of Triad and Mascoutah, Kusnerick believes the Redbirds will have a great opportunity to enjoy success in the future.
"With us going to a new division next year in the expanded Southwestern Conference," Kusnerick said, "we believe it will potentially give our football program a great opportunity to hopefully have more success going forward."
Kusnerick also hopes that the new coach will help establish a program that includes seventh and eighth-grade players at Alton Middle School into a comprehensive and cohesive program that will translate into success in the future.
"We really will be looking for someone who can come in and establish a program that truly is a seventh through 12th grade program that gets buy-in from our student-athletes and the entire Alton community," Kusnerick said.
The Redbirds were 0-9 during the 2025 campaign.
