Bubba Davis always said if he could get up every day and go to a job he enjoyed he would coach for as long as possible.
That was no longer the case for Davis at Columbus High School. As a result, the Falcons are looking for a new football coach.
On Monday, Davis officially announced his retirement as Columbus High’s football coach. He met with his players and assistant coaches and told them his decision didn’t have anything thing to do with them.
“I am to the point I don’t have a whole lot of contact with my principal, and what little I have I don’t enjoy working with him,” said Davis, 62, referring to Columbus High School principal Craig Shannon. “There is no reason to get up and not enjoy myself and go over there.”
Davis said his ideas and Shannon’s ideas “aren’t the same” and that he didn’t have a “major” issue with Shannon. He said his decision to retire stemmed from “all of the little things” a professional deals with on a daily basis when you have to deal with people. He also thanked Columbus Municipal School District Superintendent Dr. Del Phillips for giving him and his assistant coaches an opportunity, all of the teachers at Columbus High for working hard and for doing a great job, and his players.
“The kids have done everything we have wanted them to do,” Davis said. “They worked hard for two years. I feel we have them where we can win. We feel like we can compete with anybody they’re going to play this fall. They’re as strong a group of people I have ever had, and I have had some real strong teams.”
Davis said he wasn’t asked to leave Columbus High School and the fact he doesn’t want to work at the school anymore played a significant part in a decision he said he made two to three weeks ago. He said he had been contemplating the possibilities when he concluded he needed to “go ahead and do it.”
Attempts to reach Shannon on Monday night were unsuccessful.
Davis said his decision had nothing to do with being asked to assume a greater teaching load. He said what Dr. Phillips asked him to do for the 2010-11 school year “really was not more than what I had been doing.” He said the responsibilities he had worked out with Dr. Phillips “would have been no problem” for him.
Davis’ disappointment comes from not being able to lead the Falcons this season in what he believes could be a breakout year. Columbus went 1-10 in 2008 in Davis’ first season. The Falcons were 3-8 last season and narrowly missed qualifying for the playoffs after moving from Class 5A to Class 6A in the state’s reclassification.
Columbus plays in Region 1 with South Panola, the 2009 state champion, DeSoto Central, Horn Lake, Olive Branch, Southaven, Starkville, and Tupelo.
But through all of the growth in the football and powerlifting programs, Davis said it was difficult for him to get past the lack of fun in his job.
Davis, who coached at West Point from 1974-93 and won four state titles (1982, ’87, ’88, and ’89) and also coached at Wayne County, Walker County in Jasper, Ala., Petal and New Albany, said Columbus High “has been the toughest place I have ever coached.” He said it was challenging to change a mind-set of a group of players and in a community that hasn’t had a lot of success in football.
The Falcons’ last winning season was 6-5 in 2007 under coach Daryl Jones, who is the head football coach at Callaway High School. Columbus has had five winning seasons and made the playoffs four times since becoming the consolidation of Lee and Caldwell in 1992.
“This group of coaches has worked as hard as I have ever seen, and to win four games in two years has been hard,” Davis said. “In spite of not winning, the coaches and I have enjoyed each other and gone out and worked hard. I hate to do it, but for me it is time for me to do something else. It is hard enough the way things are today, but if you can’t enjoy going up there, you don’t need to go.
“It has been a joy to see how far they have really come since we started with them. I would love to see them win every ballgame this year. They don’t understand how close they are to doing that.”
The Columbus Municipal School District announced Davis’ retirement Monday at its meeting. In the press release, the school district praised Davis for his hard work and dedication in helping to build the football program.
“Coach Davis is a man of integrity,” Phillips said in a statement. “He demonstrated the benefits of hard work and responsible behavior in life and in the game of football. We are grateful for coach Davis to his contributions to our football program, district, and to our community.”
Said Columbus athletic director Rusty Greene in a statement, “We hate to see coach Davis leave. He has been a proven winner everywhere he has coached, and he was making great strides turning our football program around. The coaching staff and players have been working extremely hard in the room. I believe the next coach at Columbus will be excited about the physical conditioning and the attitude of our players. We thank coach Davis for his dedication to the Falcon football program.”
The school district will accept applications for the job as head football coach June 15-22. A committee of community members and school district administrators will review the applications and select candidates to be interviewed. Those interviews are anticipated to begin June 25. The committee then will recommend a candidate to the superintendent. It is anticipated the new coach will assume his new job July 1 or on a date mutually agreed upon by the school district and the individual.
Davis said Monday night he would submit his paperwork officially announcing his retirement today.
Davis said he didn’t recommend anyone to replace him as head coach. But he also said there are two talented and qualified candidates — Grady McCluskey and Tony Stanford — on his staff.
McCluskey, who played for Davis at West Point High, served as offensive coordinator the past two seasons. He resigned from a job as head football coach at Franklin County to come to Columbus. McCluskey worked for six years at Franklin County, the final three as head coach. He guided the team to the Class 3A state title game in 2006 and 2007, and won the championship in 2006. He also coached for one season at West Point High and with Davis at Walker (Ala.) High School.
McCluskey said he will miss coaching with Davis and that he thought he had done some good stuff at Columbus.
“He has been a great mentor,” McCluskey said. “He has been around for 40 years and seen a lot. I think it is just a shame. I think we have it going in the right direction. Everyone in 7 on 7 (passing league) is telling us we’re going in the right direction. He is just a good Christian guy. I understand the circumstances that led him to get out of it. He really has been level headed and a down-to-earth person. Maybe to a fault he sees the good in everybody, and he has tried to help the kids in every way he could.”
Stanford, who worked the past two seasons as defensive coordinator, is another coach with experience. He has coached at Kosciusko, Louisville, Carroll Academy, Lumberton, Neshoba Central, Philadelphia, Morton, and Choctaw Central. He has worked as a head coach at Louisville, Philadelphia, Morton, and Choctaw Central high schools, winning a state championship at Louisville.
“He is the top-rated coach in the state of Mississippi,” Stanford said. “He has accomplished as much as anybody I can think of. I think a lot of it has to do his religious beliefs. He tries to get that across to the kids. He really gains their respect and they want to play hard for him.”
Davis credited McCluskey and Stanford for helping to change the mentality in the program and for their hard work in transforming the program into a stronger and smarter group.
“In my opinion, I have as good of a group of coaches as there is in the state of Mississippi,” Davis said. “Coach McCluskey and coach Stanford are the ones who have done all
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 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.