A high school football head coach is getting set to leave his team during the season because of a National Guard deployment.

Leroy (Alabama) head coach Jason Massey won’t get to finish the season with his top-ranked Bears. Leroy is in the Southwestern part of Alabama, and Massey reportedly found out Labor Day weekend that he would be deployed in October, AL.com reported.

“It came as a little bit of a surprise,” Massey said. “I guess you always kind of hope that maybe things will change, but we had been hearing rumors. Of course, nothing is confirmed until you get your orders. It’s part of being in the military. You realize that when you join up.”

Massey and Leroy won a state championship last season, and Massey is in his 11th year as Leroy’s head coach. He led the Bears to a 13-1 record and the Class 1A state title a year ago. His team is off to a 3-0 start this season. Massey said he may be gone before an Oct. 6 game.

Massey is from a military family, and his dad was in the National Guard for 30 years, and his uncle and 2 brothers also served. This is Massey’s 3rd deployment, and the last one was for 7 months during the pandemic.

He couldn’t say where he was being deployed to and didn’t know when he might be back.

“Probably at least a year,” Massey said.