For the first time in 17 years, the Columbia Wildcats baseball team will call a new man “coach” when they take the field again.
Former assistant Kyle Lindsey was introduced as the new head coach during a press conference Thursday, with veteran head coach Greg Owen deciding to transition into administration at the high school to be the new athletic director. Former athletic director Loren Monk is being elevated to director of operations, and head football coach Chip Bilderback will assist Monk as athletic coordinator.
Lindsey spent this past season as an assistant at Petal High School, helping lead the Panthers to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs, and he said he learned some things there that will be beneficial for him to bring back to Columbia.
Lindsey said that he really missed the people of Columbia, and the opportunity to run his own program was huge in his decision to return to the Wildcats. He added that having already coached the players in his two years as an assistant at CHS will be a big plus because he already knows what their strengths and weaknesses are, where they play and the type of young men they are.
“They’ve grown a lot in a year; I’ve seen that. It’s not like I’m coming in here blinded on who plays where and who can do what,” he said. “Positions are wide open, and we’re going to have tryouts at the end of May. Those guys are going to have to make the team, and once they do we’re going to get the ball rolling.”
While he said winning a state championship is the ultimate goal, Lindsey says he wants to focus on everyone within the program learning how to work hard.
“We’re going to put our head down, work hard and look up at the end of the year and see where we’re at,” he said. “If (winning a state championship) is the path we take, we’re going to fight and claw when we get there. I can’t promise a number of wins or a state championship, but I can promise one thing: They’re going to play hard, they’re going to get after it and they’re going to be a product that Columbia is proud of.”
Superintendent Jason Harris said the parents and players were asked what they wanted in their next head coach, and an interview committee found Lindsey to be that guy out of the 28 applicants and seven interviewed for the position.
Harris said that Lindsey was the cream that rose to the top and that his enthusiasm for the game will rub off on the players.
Lindsey said that Owen’s consistency since 2002 is special at the high school level, and he’s excited to be able to have Owen still around as his mentor. Owen said the Wildcats are gaining a coach that will get them to hone in on being fundamentally sound.
“The biggest thing they’re going to be able to see is the repetition of attention to detail in regards to the fundamentals of playing the game. He’s really good at coaching those fundamentals, and the daily grind of practice is something he excels in,” he said.
Owen had earned his specialist’s degree in educational leadership three years ago because he knew one day he would want to take on a role like being the athletic director. He said the timing turned out to be perfect for him to make the transition.
“Over the past year to year and a half, my thoughts started to focus in on what we can do to get the things we were successful within the baseball program go across the board to help all Wildcats. That perspective to make our whole school better intrigued me,” he said.
Owen, who averaged 20 wins per season since 2002 and won a Class 4A state title in 2011, said that it will be hard to let go of coaching, and there’s nothing more special than the relationships formed with his players on the field and how they relate to life.
“Thank you to all of the players who have come through,” he said. “I’m thankful to the parents for allowing me that time to spend with their sons and helping them through the process of molding young boys into men.”
