Six years ago, Chris Smith was the new guy in town among area football coaches.
But with a recent youth movement in southwest Mississippi, North Pike’s coach can easily be mistaken for an old man.
As the 2012 season got underway Monday as practices opened across the state, three new local football coaches busted out their head coaching whistles for the first time.
The three new faces include Michael Andrews at South Pike, Mike Powell at Parklane and Jason Johnson at Tylertown.
“It’s kind of interesting and crazy to me to sit back and think I’ve been here coaching for six years and I am the senior head coach in the area,” said Smith, who was an assistant at McComb before accepting the head position at North Pike in 2007.
Just like Smith did at the time of his hire, the three new coaches have plenty of experience as assistant coaches and two come as in-house hires. Johnson spent nearly 20 seasons at Tylertown before he took over for Walter Denton, who accepted the same position at Columbia, in the offseason. Andrews, a former 1989 NFL Draft pick, took over for Willie Brown after spending 11 seasons as an assistant at South Pike.
Meanwhile, Powell, who ran the offense at Brookhaven and helped the Panthers become a powerhouse in Class 5A, is a familiar face in the area as a Parklane graduate.
“I couldn’t wait for (Monday) to be here … I get the nervous excited type feel,” Powell said. “Just ready to see this program develop … to see these guys take on the offense and start progressing.”
Each project presents a different challenge for the new coaches. Parklane’s offense is in the process of a huge cosmetic change. Powell brings in a spread option attack, which is a stark contrast from former coach Bo Milton’s downhill I-formation attack.
At South Pike, Andrews finds himself in a new role after running South Pike’s defense during his tenure. Andrews gave free reign to offensive coordinator Tyrone Varnado as Andrews is still learning to balance job responsibilities.
“Instead of being on one side of the football, now I’m looking at offensive strategies as well as defensive strategies,” said Andrews, a former South Pike and Alcorn State standout. “So the whole scope of it just gives me a little bit more responsibility, but I’m up for the challenge.”
Andrews hasn’t had much time to prepare for the upcoming season. Brown’s contract wasn’t renewed in early June and Andrews was thrust into the role later that month. The quick turnaround left Andrews with less than eight weeks to prepare for the season opener.
“It takes some time to get used to for those guys who are doing it for the first time,” Smith said. “When I first got up (to North Pike), you didn’t realize all the things a head coach does behind the scenes.”
There’s no question greater responsibility comes with the head coaching tag. Of the three, Johnson seems unfazed by the burden.
Tylertown’s program is as stable as any in the area, having won the 2009 3A state championship, and that should continue under Johnson’s direction.
Johnson will remain as offensive coordinator, a position he’s had for more than a decade. The defense also remains the same.
It’s hard to replace anyone like Denton, who spent 20-plus years at Tylertown. But if anyone could take over without regression, it’s someone like Johnson who went through thick and thin with Denton.
“I am going to be honest with you, I haven’t been more relaxed than I have been in years,” Johnson said.
Johnson may have a few more years experience than Smith, but the recent hires still make Smith feel old — although he is certainly nowhere near that juncture.
If anything, Andrews and Powell, whose respective programs have seen better days, could learn a thing or two from Smith.
Smith inherited a North Pike program that didn’t traditionally win. Within a few short years, he brought the Jaguars to the 2010 4A state championship game.
His approach was simple: encompass the program with good people.
“Bear Bryant wrote a book that said, when you start a program, surround yourself with people as good or better than you and let them work,” Smith said. “If you are out there with coaches and they have a responsibility, let them do it.”
Smith now joins McComb coach Malcolm Jones as one of most tenured coaches in the area, although Jones is only entering his fourth season.
While Smith finds the recent changes interesting, Jones isn’t that surprised.
“It’s a part of the business, man,” Jones said. “You can never tell in coaching what’s going to happen. A guy can be here today and be gone tomorrow.”
