Butch Holmes decided a year ago this season would be his last as a baseball coach. He just didn’t get to decide when it was going to be made public.
“I didn’t resign and I don’t plan on resigning,” Holmes said Wednesday night after Southwest Mississippi Community College’s doubleheader against Jones County.
The SMCC board of trustees voted Tuesday night to make Holmes a full-time health instructor and elevate assistant coach Lee Kuyrkendall to head coach.
Southwest President Dr. Oliver Young said this morning that during the hiring of Kuyrkendall last year, Holmes said he would coach one more year and then teach full time.
Young said that two to three weeks ago, he talked with Holmes to make sure that was still his plan, and it was.
“I didn’t inquire about the timing,” Young said. “There was no agreement as to when it would be.”
He said the administration had made sure there were classes for Holmes to teach, and that on Tuesday, he left a message for Holmes early in the afternoon that the move would be brought up at the board meeting that night.
Holmes did not return the call, and the board agreed to the change after discussion in executive session.
On Wednesday night, Holmes said he was still in the dark.
“I never have been fully told anything,” Holmes said.
A surprised Kuyrkendall called Larry Holmes, SMCC’s athletic director and Butch Holmes’ brother, on Wednesday morning, after he first got wind of the change.
“It was just like it happened all at once,” Larry Holmes said.
Young said he felt the announcement needed to be made now rather than waiting until the board meeting next month in order to let Kuyrkendall recruit as head coach.
“It’s a major distraction for the team,” Butch Holmes said of the timing of the change.
The coaching change is effective on June 30, when Holmes’ contract expires.
The Bears’ regular season ends April 26, and at 2-6 in division play, their playoff hopes are all but dashed.
Young said the need for recruiting outweighed the outcome of the rest of the season.
“We’re not in the running for the playoffs,” he said. “We’ve played some great baseball, but we’d almost have to win out to make the playoffs.”
Young said he didn’t think there would be any problem with the announcement, but if he had offended Butch Holmes, he would apologize.
Young also said he didn’t have a ceremony planned for Southwest’s home finale on Saturday, but that he will ask Butch Holmes if he wants a ceremony of some sort.
The Bears will round out their home season with the Cardiovascular Institute of Mississippi Heart Challenge doubleheader against Copiah-Lincoln Community College beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday.
