STARKVILLE — Officially, Tuesday morning’s event at Starkville High School was listed as an introductory news conference for the Yellow Jackets’ new athletic director and football coach.
For Milton Smith, it was a homecoming.
Smith, a 1986 graduate of Starkville High who spent 13 seasons as football coach at Laurel High, was welcomed back as Starkville High’s athletic director. He was introduced with Ricky Woods, the school’s new football coach.
“I’m glad to be at home,” said Smith. “I look forward to working with coach Woods. He and I share a lot of the same beliefs when it comes to football. Championships are coming. To the rest of the athletic staff, we want championships across the board. This needs to be Championship U. I bleed black and gold, and I am glad to be back.”
Smith’s return to Starkville was announced in February, when he was hired to replace retiring athletic director Stan Miller. Tuesday’s ceremony at Starkville High was Smith’s first public appearance with the Yellow Jackets. He spent 14 years in Laurel, where he led the Golden Tornadoes to the 2007 Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A state championship and a runner-up finish in 2011. For the past three seasons, Smith has served as Laurel High’s athletic director and as an assistant principal. He will fill the same roles at Starkville High.
“He’s had a long and honored career at Laurel,” Starkville School District Superintendent Dr. Lewis Holloway said. “I just want to tell him welcome home to Starkville, and welcome back to being a Yellow Jacket.”
Holloway and Starkville High Principal David Baggett had hands in hiring Smith, and both were present Tuesday.
“Coach Smith has been a winner throughout his life,” Baggett said. “As a player here, he won a state championship. As an assistant coach here, he was part of a state championship. Then he went out on his own and at Laurel High School, he won a state championship, so he understands what it takes to have a winning program.”
Smith was a junior on Starkville High’s first state championship team in 1984 (Class 4A). Upon graduation in 1986, he went to Mississippi State, where he enjoyed a four-year career for the Bulldogs.
After taking two years “to be a fireman,” Smith entered the coaching ranks in Starkville. He was an assistant coach for the Yellow Jackets from 1995-98. He won a title as part of Starkville High’s 1995 championship team.
The bulk of Smith’s coaching career came in Laurel, where he resurrected a program that had last played for a state title in 1990.
This past season, Laurel beat Oxford to win the Class 5A crown.
“We just hit a grand slam with coach Smith,” Baggett said. “He’s all about the kids and wants to take care of the kids. From an athletics standpoint, he’s been around and he knows what it takes to win. Add on top of that, he is a Starkville guy.”
Never leaving
In a moment of levity, Smith thanked his wife for coming to the ceremony, then added, “I told her earlier, I said ‘That’s it, I’m done. We are never leaving here again.’ ”
While the comment drew laughter, it also was based in truth. A native of Starkville, Smith said he always wanted to return home.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to come home, for my son to come home and graduate from Starkville High School,” Smith said. “And they’re on the upswing. Starkville has always been one of the top athletic programs in this state. I’m just glad to be able to come home and be able to contribute to that.”
Smith inherits an athletic program that reached the Class 6A North State Championship Game in football, won the 6A state title in boys basketball, reached the 6A semifinals in girls basketball, finished second in the state in girls track and field, reached the North State championship match in volleyball, and qualified for the playoffs in baseball and fast-pitch softball.
“They are already doing a great job here,” Smith said. “We just have to build on the tradition that’s already in place. I have some ideas, some things that could be integrated, but, overall, it’s about continuing to work hard and continuing the success they’ve already had here.”
Smith already has helped make an imprint on Starkville High athletics. He played a role in the hiring of Woods, who was approved as the school’s football coach last Friday. The seven-time state champion will take over a program that finished 13-1 in 2014.
“I was on the interview committee,” Smith said. “Coach Woods came very highly recommended with a great reputation. Talking to him, we had a lot of the same philosophies. He is all about the kids.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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