Doty, Russo among coaches on the move
Apr. 21—As the coaching carousel turns...
—Roman Doty is Pine Grove's new girls basketball coach.
He replaces Katie Bates, who left for the head post at Ripley. That's a tough act to follow — Bates led the Lady Panthers to four-straight Class 1A state championships.
But the program has fallen on hard times the last two years. Pine Grove was 2-21 this past season, so it'll be a bit of a rebuild.
Doty is a proven winner, though. He led Mooreville's girls to a 45-17 record over the last two seasons, including a 26-5 mark this year.
—After one season as Potts Camp's head football coach, the well-traveled Richard Russo has left to become defensive coordinator at Water Valley. Potts Camp went 4-6 last season.
Russo was previously head coach at Tishomingo County for two seasons. He's also been a head coach at Independence (2013-19) and North Delta (2006-07).
He'll be working under Clint Faust, a former Bruce head coach who replaces Brad Embry at Water Valley. Embry, a former Tupelo assistant, retired after 15 seasons as the program's winningest coach, with a record of 117-67. Embry led the Blue Devils to the Class 3A state title in 2018.
This is Faust's second head coaching gig. The Saltillo native led Bruce for three seasons (2017-19), posting a 10-25 record. He's been at Water Valley since 2020.
—Belmont recently hired a new football coach: Michael D. Jackson. He's an Alabama guy who was an assistant at Mantachie the past two seasons, but he has extensive head coaching experience.
Jackson was a head coach at three Alabama schools for a total of 19 years. He was most recently at Red Bay, going 63-17 in seven seasons. He led the Tigers to a 12-1 mark and the third round of the Class 2A playoffs in 2019.
Jackson has a career record of 134-79. He replaces Jason Coker, who was 29-54 with six playoff appearances in eight years at Belmont.
—Kevin Walton is a head coach again. He has taken over Falkner's football program after Jeff Anglin left for an assistant's job at Mantachie.
Walton was head coach at East Union from 2015-19, going 35-24 with a pair of division titles. He was hired at Falkner last summer as the track and field coach but was not on the football staff.
This is Walton's second stint at the school. He was head coach in 2001, when the Eagles went 2-8.
—H.W. Byers is currently conducting interviews for its head football coaching position. Chris Daniels led the program for 10 years, and the Lions were very competitive last season. They went 4-6, and four of the losses were by six points or less.
Brad Locke is senior sports writer for the Daily Journal. Contact him on Twitter @bradlocke or via email at brad.locke@journalinc.com
