“Undefeated state champions,” has a nice ring to it. The diamonds are an added touch.

Gulf Shores’ first-ever state championship football team, as well as the student training staff, cheerleaders, videographers and coaches, were celebrated during a Wednesday ceremony with their championship rings.

One last time, the 2023 Dolphins gathered to preserve the history they made together. As head football coach Mark Hudspeth said in his introduction, it was important to award rings to more than just football players.

“A ring symbolizes teamwork, because this football team couldn’t have done it with just one person,” Hudspeth said. “This football team couldn’t have done it without the cheer and the athletic trainers and the parents and the school administration and everybody involved.”

It was that bond that senior linebacker Isaiah Hammac said he has missed the most since the title game on Dec. 7, 2023.

“It's awesome, seeing everybody so happy is great,” Hammac said. “It's been a while since I've been around all these boys since we're not in football anymore, so it's been awesome.”

Senior athlete Ronnie Royal, state championship MVP and Class 5A Back of the Year, agreed it was a fitting day to celebrate a special season.

“It was amazing, just another memory in the books with these boys,” Royal said. “After all the hard work we've done and all the training and suffering and all that, it was all worth it just to get this one ring.”

Sophomore linebacker Landon Everett also brought up the sweat lost throughout the time spent under the summer sun that helped build the championship ring.

“We all have a close bond with each other because we've all gone through everything with each other; all the two-a-day practices and all the hot summer practices,” Everett said. “It all paid off.”

The details behind the ring

With the grand reveal, a shiny Gulf Shores logo with a red-eyed Dolphin stared back at its owner to kick off the story told by the overall ring.

On one side was the representative’s name with their number and position and the “Ball at the Beach,” logo used by Gulf Shores football. The other side featured the Blue Map trophy and the logos of the Dolphins and the Ramsay Rams with the final score, 21-14.

The underside of the ring featured the numbers 1-6 for the team’s core values and under the base of the ring were six scores from the season, the five playoff games as well as the program’s first shutout over UMS-Wright, 17-0.

“This is what these kids play for: a chance to win a championship and to win a ring,” Hudspeth said after the ceremony. “In all sports you play for that ring and to see these young men and young ladies all come together and do something special is really, really rewarding.”

He acknowledged it did take a few rounds of tinkering but the final design was finally settled on.

“The whole key is you want your ring to tell a story and I think this one does,” Hudspeth said. “It was a little bit where you keep fine tuning and tweaking things until you finally get to where you want to get it to and the ring company, they did a great job. I'm just proud that we can give our kids something they can be proud of.”

The reactions to the ring

Not everyone was sure what to expect from the ring’s size but students and coaches alike took the time to gaze into the diamonds.

“This is awesome, it's bigger than I thought it was going to be,” Hammac said.

“Not this big, probably a little smaller and not as many diamonds but I love this,” Royal said. “He really went all out with it.”

“It was big, very big. But it’s very nice,” Everett said of his initial reaction. “I knew Coach Hud was going to go all out.”

The next ring

Although Everett will have another chance at a football state championship ring, he already captured a second state championship this year as an individual wrestler just 72 days after the football title game.

“That was one was so exciting,” Everett said of his 190-pound wrestling championship. “Because wrestling practice is one of the hardest things you can ever do, and winning state had been my goal for so long so it was just such a big opportunity.”

Still, his sights are set on more titles on the mat.

“Hopefully going for four. Going back-to-back-back and be the first three-timer in school history,” Everett said.

Money quotes

“Missing playing with my boys, that was the last time I'll ever play with them like that,” Hammac said of his reflections since the title game on Dec. 7, 2023. “Them and all the coaches and the coaching staff and parents; it's been awesome, I'm going to miss it.”

“Just all day was amazing, everything went well. Hung out with the boys and celebrated the ring, we were waiting for this moment for a long time and this is really a big moment for us,” Royal said.

“I liked it a lot, because we did get through a lot of adversity,” Everett said of the ring’s story. “And we did have a bunch of challenges get thrown our way, but we all just pushed through it. … We couldn't have done that without God, though.”

“Everybody had such a big role in the season,” Hudspeth said. “You never do anything by yourself so just really proud of everybody involved here in the City of Gulf Shores and Gulf Shores High School, we've got a special community.”