The timing surrounding the exit of former head football coach Chip Bilderback may have been less than ideal for the administration at Columbia High, but the Wildcats acted quickly to find their championship-level replacement.
It only took two weeks for Columbia to find a replacement in the form of Lance Pogue, the former multi-time state champion and once national champion as South Panola’s head coach during its heyday. Columbia Superintendent Jason Harris said he only had a few candidates in mind, but a prior relationship with Pogue was what set him apart from the rest.
“We knew coach Bilderback leaving was a possibility family-wise, so it had been in the back of my mind, playing through a few scenarios. The timing, obviously, wasn’t ideal per se, but I had a few people that I wanted to target. Obviously, coach Pogue was one of them,” Harris explained. “I’ve known him for quite a while with his tenure at South Panola and my tenure at Tupelo. We played every year at least once a year. I’ve always had the utmost respect for him and his teams because they were always well-coached, very physical and you knew when you played them, you’d better be ready to strap it on because you were going to get it.
“Going through this process, I only targeted a few people with him being one, and the good Lord allowed me to convince him to come out of retirement and come coach the Wildcats. We’re blessed to have him.”
When Pogue left South Panola following the 2016 season, he retired from the public school system. Still wanting to coach, Pogue accepted a coordinator position at Jackson Academy before serving as the school’s head coach for two years. He went to Heritage Academy as the school’s head football coach in 2022 before deciding that after 30 years of coaching, it was time for a break.
“I didn’t know if I’d get back in it — you just never know,” Pogue recalled. “I always say coaching time is kind of etched in sand. I was kind of enjoying that. I told somebody not that long ago that I spend more time with everybody else’s kids than I do with my own, and that’s a part of coaching. But my kids are grown now, and my son is married and fixing to have a child. I thought I would spend a little bit of time with them.”
But coaches coach, and when Pogue visited Columbia High and the facilities at Walter Payton Field, it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.
“I thought (Harris) did a heck of a job as principal in Tupelo, and I knew he’d be a superintendent at some point. He called me and told me the situation here, and he asked me if I was interested,” Pogue said. “I came down to talk with him, and I looked around and, heck, I just said, ‘If I ever was (going to get back into coaching), this is what I’m looking for.’ It reminds me of some places I’ve been in my background — athletic kids, blue-collar kids who are tough and work hard. I got to know the staff real quick, and it’s been a great transition.”
For a coaching hire to happen this late in the calendar, there typically is an expectation that something about the situation is off, whether it has to do with the team or administration. But that wasn’t the case for the Wildcats, who have a talented roster with an established coaching staff that ensures a smooth transition from Bilderback to Pogue.
The new Columbia head coach said that although he will add a few new wrinkles of his own to the playbook, he wants to maintain the status quo because of how successful the previous administration was at Gardner Stadium. Pogue said that he decided to learn the terminology used by the Wildcats instead of forcing them to learn completely new material post-spring.
“I think the team has been receptive to the change. But we’re not changing anything. We’re carrying on, and if there are things we can add or build to make us better, that’s what we’re doing,” Pogue explained. “A toss sweep to the right could be ‘98’ for somebody or ‘Red’ for somebody else, but it’s still a toss sweep, for example. It would be way easier for me to blend in and learn that versus changing a wholesale, new language. I think that’s going to really put us a step ahead moving forward.”
It may be easy for someone with Pogue’s resume to coast off of his reputation, but that’s not his MO. His favorite part of coaching, he said, is building relationships with players and coaches that will last a lifetime, and he’s looking forward to the new challenges of being Columbia’s leader.
The former Winona, Eupora, South Panola, Jackson Academy and Heritage Academy head coach may still be learning all there is to know about this group of Wildcats, but after all the talent he’s seen in his day, he knows when he spots it.
“I don’t mean this funny, but if I never learned a name, one thing I can pride myself in is telling if a guy can run, he’s athletic and all that,” he said. “I’m kidding about that, but the first thing I saw when I got out there was we have athletic kids that can run. We have a lot of kids — I’ve said this in high school for a long time — in that 170 to 190-pound range that can run, are athletic and are physical, tough kids. Obviously, we’ve got some bigger kids lineman-wise, but overall, from top to bottom, I’ve been impressed with them. Even some of the younger kids that haven’t played much, you see a lot of untapped athletic ability.”
Pogue said that for the Wildcats, the main issue at hand is making sure they perform the fundamentals at a high degree. He called it a cliche, but blocking and tackling are at the top of his list for what successful teams do well. The running game is important to him, but he knows how important it is to stretch the field with a strong passing attack. He plans to utilize an old school philosophy with a dash of offensive innovation seen across the last decade-plus to create a balanced offense that pairs with an unforgiving defense and sound special teams.
If that doesn’t sound familiar to Wildcat fans, watch last year’s tape.
“Everything’s in good shape as a program, and hopefully we can advance it,” Pogue said. “That’s what we’re charged with.”
The reigning Class 4A South State champions continue their offseason workout program in preparation for their season opener at home against D’Iberville Aug. 30.
