dating back almost 50 years, Lee upset Lanier. The Poets still made the playoffs, but the Poets were eventually eliminated by Daphne. Coach Fuller resigned after the 2004 season. His replacement, Richard Moncrief, was effective and focused on character building as much as football. Under his leadership, the team participated in a number of community service projects, including street cleaning and reading literacy. He also established tutorial and life skills programs for the team. Consequently, a number of players signed college scholarships, with one eventually playing in the NFL. Moncrief left to coach at the collegiate level in 2005. He was replaced by former Alabama State Head Coach, L. C. Cole, who engineered one of the more remarkable turnarounds in the program's storied history. After struggling to a 1–3 record in the first 4 games, the Poets upset Jeff Davis, continued to win games, and advanced to the playoffs as area runner up. After a first round playoff victory over Theodore, the Poets went on the road and upset highly ranked and defending state runner-up Daphne, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Opelika. During his brief 2-year tenure, Coach Cole won 2 City Championships, never losing to the other Montgomery schools. In 2008, Coach Cole Left Lanier to become the defensive coordinator at Texas Southern University after having restored Lanier to its place as Montgomery's high school football powerhouse. On April 28, 2008, after a long and tiring search, Lanier found its new head coach was already working at the school. Former Jeff Davis and Tennessee State University standout tight end Steve Holloway, a long time assistant to 3 previous head coaches, finally got the call to lead the Poets. In other sports, Lanier won the 2001 boys' basketball state championship (coached by Floyd Matthews) and the 2005 girls' basketball state championship (coached by the aforementioned Steve Holloway). Cross Country Lanier also has a cross country team, there are two teams: the boys' 7th graders and 8th graders and the girls' 7th and 8th graders. Each team is directed by a different coach and have different practice times. The Girls' Cross Country team have run and placed year after year with help of the coach. The boys have mostly gotten first and second for the past years. Notable alumni The school's notable alumni include: Reggie Barlow, former NFL football player Lawton Campbell, playwright and friend of Zelda and F.