Bryant Bank is announcing a series of leadership changes reflecting the strength and continuity that have defined the bank since its founding. Claude Edwards, Bryant Bank’s President since the bank opened in 2005, will assume the role of President Emeritus and Chief Strategy Officer. Mike Mitchell, currently Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer and Chief Administrative Officer, will become Bank President. Patrick Hamner, Executive Vice President of Commercial Loans and Credit Administration, will become Chief Credit Officer, a role Mitchell has held since 2019. All of these changes will take effect October 1, 2026.
“Claude has led Bryant Bank with the same strength and stability on which it was founded,” said Paul W. Bryant Jr., owner and Chairman of Bryant Bank. “His values and Bryant Bank’s values are directly aligned. Security, strength, and stability are what our customers expect of Bryant Bank, and that has been the standard of leadership Claude has provided since the very beginning.”
In 2005, Bryant personally selected Edwards, a veteran community banker, to help start Bryant Bank. Over the next two decades and with an unwavering commitment to the State of Alabama, Edwards led Bryant Bank’s growth from a single office in Tuscaloosa to over $3 billion in assets with 18 branches and more than 300 employees. In addition to the markets where the bank has built physical offices, Bryant Bank works to support those community banks already serving families and businesses in their communities, reflecting its commitment to strong local banking across the entire State of Alabama.
Edwards has been the founder and keeper of the culture at the bank from the beginning, shaping what Bryant Bank is today around Bryant’s vision for what a community bank, and a community banker, should be. That culture is what customers feel the moment they walk into any Bryant Bank office; a traditional relationship banking experience, with their bank at the heart of the community.
“Long-term thinking is at the center of everything we do at Bryant Bank,” said Scott Phelps, Bryant Bank owner and Board Secretary. “Each decision we make is made first with a focus on our customers’ needs and expectations and then with the bank’s next 100 years in mind, not just the next 5 or 10. Claude’s leadership has reflected that thinking since day one and he has led by example. That same long-term mindset is why we prefer to promote from within and develop leaders like Mike and Patrick, each of whom have embraced and demonstrated the bank’s culture and mission.”
At a time characterized by bank mergers and acquisitions, in his new role Edwards will turn his focus toward strategic growth planning for Bryant Bank. That work and the bank’s singular focus on the State of Alabama and the economic health of all Alabamians, draws on what Edwards has always done best during his more than four decades of banking; long-term planning for the bank’s future and the future of community banking throughout the State.
“Bryant Bank has never been about just one person. It has always been about the people who show up every day to serve their neighbors,” said Edwards. “My new role is an opportunity to focus on the strategy and support the next leaders who will carry that work forward, starting with Mike and Patrick. Our customers are in good hands with the leadership team we’ve built.”
Mitchell joined Bryant Bank in 2019 as Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, bringing more than three decades of experience in credit administration and commercial lending. He added the role of Chief Administrative Officer in 2025. Alongside his banking career, Mitchell served more than 35 years in the U.S. Army and Alabama Army National Guard, a commitment that began after college and continued until his retirement in 2021 as a Brigadier General. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Community Foundation of West Alabama and the Executive Leadership Team for the American Heart Association for Tuscaloosa. He is a member of the Public Affairs Council for the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, and is a former board member for Junior Achievement of Tuscaloosa County.
Mitchell is an active member at St. Mark Church in Northport, where he has served numerous terms on the church’s finance committee over the last 25 years. He holds a Master of Science degree in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College and a degree in Corporate Finance from the University of Alabama’s Manderson Graduate School of Business.
“Mike has spent the last several years earning the trust of our team, our board, and our customers,” said Bryant. “His background in credit, his discipline, and his leadership experience make him well suited to this role.”
Since joining Bryant Bank, Mitchell has taken on growing responsibility across the bank, adding the role of Chief Administrative Officer in 2025 to oversee operations alongside credit administration. That expanded role gave him visibility across nearly every part of the bank, from lending and operations to strategic planning, the kind of experience the board points to in explaining its confidence in his readiness for the President’s role.
“Mike’s leadership in credit administration has been marked by real growth and consistency,” said Phelps. “He has a way of building confidence, both on our team and with the customers we serve, and that steady hand will serve our bank well.”
“I’ve had the opportunity to learn from Claude’s leadership over the years, and that experience has shaped my understanding of Bryant Bank,” said Mitchell. “I am honored to step into this role and to carry forward the culture and the commitment to community that our founders built our bank on.”
Patrick Hamner will step into the role of Chief Credit Officer, a role that reflects both his tenure at Bryant Bank and his depth of experience in commercial lending and credit. Hamner was part of the original team of bankers who helped build Bryant Bank in 2005 and was named Executive Vice President of Commercial Loans and Credit Administration earlier this year. He will now lead credit administration functions statewide.
“Patrick has a deep understanding of Bryant Bank’s credit culture and the discipline that has kept our bank strong,” said Phelps. “That expertise, paired with his knowledge of our markets, makes him the right person to lead credit administration statewide.”
Hamner served two four-year terms as the District 4 Representative on the Tuscaloosa City School Board, concluding in May 2025, and has served on the boards of Junior Achievement of Tuscaloosa County. Patrick is on the board for the Southern Development Council, an Alabama-based Certified Development Company specializing in SBA loan programs. He is an active Vestry member at Canterbury Chapel, where he has also supported the congregation’s Meals on Wheels ministry. For the past eight years, he has volunteered consistently with the Reading Allies program at MLK Elementary School and across Tuscaloosa City Schools. His civic involvement extends further through the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, United Way of West Alabama, the Mental Health Association of Tuscaloosa, and the Tuscaloosa County Diversion Program, among other organizations dedicated to the health, safety, and growth of the region. He has also been active in the Coastal Conservation Association, holding roles at both the state and local level.
In 2020, he received the Making A Difference Community Service Award, an internal recognition celebrating a Bryant Banker whose commitment to serving others goes above and beyond. In 2017, the Young Leaders Society of Tuscaloosa recognized him with one of the inaugural United in Service / West Alabama Young Leaders Award. Patrick is a graduate of Leadership Tuscaloosa and a member of the inaugural 2018 class of the Alabama Bankers Association’s Bank Executive Leadership Program.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue serving Bryant Bank in this expanded capacity,” said Hamner. “I’ve learned a great deal from Claude and Mike’s leadership over the years, and I look forward to applying that in this role. I’m honored to be part of this next chapter in Bryant Bank’s story.”
Founded in 2005 by Paul W. Bryant, Jr., Bryant Bank’s vision is to see every Alabamian experience a financially stable future and live in a thriving community. Bryant Bankers put care into action to help Alabamians invest in their full potential every day. The Bank offers 18 branches in communities across Alabama including the Huntsville area, the Birmingham area, Tuscaloosa, Mobile, and Baldwin County, and employs over 300 Bryant Bankers, with a commitment to strong local banking that extends to communities across the entire state.
