Stacy Hester had faith another coaching opportunity was going to come.
The former New Hope High School baseball coach just didn’t expect the call to happen when it did.
After speaking with Brandon High School Athletic Director and football coach Brad Peterson, Hester was confident he had found a great fit to continue his career as baseball coach.
“I knew I would get a chance to coach again,” Hester said. “I didn’t realize it would take this long, but everything has to take its course. I learned a lot more patience, which I needed. That job at Carroll Academy is probably the best thing that happened to me.”
On Wednesday, the Rankin County School Board approved the hiring of Hester as Brandon High’s new baseball coach. Hester will replace Neill Bartling, who guided Brandon to a 21-10 finish and a second-round loss to Harrison Central in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A South State playoffs. Bartling spent seven seasons as head coach at the school, and, according to Peterson, is changing professions.
Peterson, the former athletic director and football coach at Louisville High, said he and assistant principal/seniors Bryan Marshall did their due diligence examining Hester’s background to see if the longtime New Hope High coach, who coached the baseball team at Carroll Academy in Carrollton this season, would be the man they wanted to take their baseball program to the next level and to help lead their young men.
“Coach Hester is one of the best baseball coaches in the state of Mississippi, and has been for a long time,” Peterson said. “I have been around him not just in baseball and football, but also in the school business, so I know what kind of guy he is and what kind of coach he is and what kind of passion he has. That is what we want here at Brandon. We want to hire the best in the state, and I feel like we have done that.”
Peterson said he spoke with many people about which way to go in hiring a new baseball coach. He said Madison Central football coach Bobby Hall mentioned Hester’s name to him and he thought it was a great suggestion. Peterson said he then talked to numerous people, including former New Hope High football coach Andy Stevens, who is an assistant principal at Caledonia High School.
Marshall said he also spoke with players and coaches and feels the school “left no stone unturned” in talking to people about Hester.
“I think his record speaks for itself as far as wins and losses and in terms of building character in young men,” Marshall said. “Some of the players I talked to who played for coach Hester said the discipline and character they have in their life is a direct influence from coach Hester. I feel one thing coach Hester can leave our kids with is discipline and the know-how to be successful young men outside baseball because only a select few are going to go on to play professional baseball.”
Hester, who also was head baseball coach at Washington School in Greenville, guided Carroll Academy, a Class AA school in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, to a 17-14 finish this season.
New Hope won 551 games in Hester’s 18 years as head coach. It won state titles in 1996, ’98, and 2003, six North Half state titles, advanced to nine Final Fours since 1995, and was nationally ranked seven times.
In 1996, the Trojans set a national record and a state of Mississippi record for wins went they went 43-0. In 1996-97, New Hope won 51 consecutive games, including 68 straight against teams from the state of Mississippi.
In May 2009, Lowndes County School District Superintendent Mike Halford recommended Hester not be retained as New Hope High baseball coach. The school board then voted 5-0 to accept Halford’s recommendation.
Former New Hope High Principal Lynn Wright was fired and Hester’s contract wasn’t renewed following a dispute over the use of New Hope’s sales tax exemption for the purchase of a $15,000 reel mower that was purchased with private funds.
In October 2010, Hester and Wright filed suit in federal court against the Lowndes County School District. Hester said Wednesday his case and the case of Wright are still ongoing, and last month were appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Last summer, Hester returned to work as a head coach with the Golden Triangle Jets of the Cotton States Baseball League North Division, a wood bat league for college players.
Hester has continued in his role as head coach for a team of juniors from the state of Mississippi that competes annually in the Junior Sunbelt Classic in McAlester, Okla. Caledonia High’s John Wilson and Columbus High’s Jeff Cook also are coaches on that team.
Hester thanked Peterson and Marshall for believing him and giving him a chance to return to coaching in the state’s public school system. Hester will work as a health and a driver’s education teacher in the first two blocks of the day. He then will work with all levels of Brandon High’s baseball program for the rest of the day.
“If God wanted me to be back in it, I felt somebody would take a chance on me. The Brandon job came open and I got the call to interview. Everything just kind of clicked. They wanted a guy who was proven and successful.”
Hester also thanked all of the people who stood by him and supported his application to become Brandon High’s new coach, including Wright and state representative and Lowndes County attorney Jeff Smith.
“I think I have learned a lot more about human relations skills,” Hester said. “I kind of put up a shield to some of the people who always tried to complain, and I probably didn’t do a very good job of being a good listener. I guess I felt like because of our success I always had to talk to and deal with the kids, but in this day and age you can’t have that mind-set because kids don’t always tell their parents everything they need to tell them.”
Hester is scheduled to meet with the Brandon High Booster Club today and then talk with his players this afternoon.
Peterson hopes Hester’s approach to the game and his craft rubs off on the students and players.
“Players take on the demeanor of their coach, and one thing that is appealing about coach Hester is he is a winner and a competitor,” Peterson said. “That is what I want our kids to be and to have that winning demeanor about them.”
Hester feels he will be able to do that because he feels he is more understanding. He said he knows he is “guilty” of things and is thankful of the chance to learn valuable lessons and to get another opportunity to continue to do something he loves.
“It is sad to say it took me until I was 53 to mature more as a coach,” Hester said. “But it is just a process and you go through a lot of sleepless nights and wonder why? What went wrong?
“I am going to try to be a better communicator. … I want to be the type of guy the kids can come to and communicate and not feel like they’re under so much pressure from me and my coaches.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.