McGregor finds 'good fit' at Booneville
Jun. 25—BOONEVILLE — Booneville lost championship-winning head coach Kevin Williams, who went home to coach in his hometown of Corinth after he was approved on June 17.
Four days later, the Blue Devils approved their next head coach, hiring New Site's Andy McGregor to lead the program.
"It moved pretty fast, but it felt real comfortable from the get-go and it just seems like a good fit," said McGregor.
Booneville is fresh off its second state championship in program history, claiming the Class 3A crown with a 26-11 season.
The Blue Devils lose a bulk of key contributors with the departure of 12 seniors, but McGregor said the championship expectation has been set and isn't going anywhere.
"Championships are now the standard, and we will strive for that daily," McGregor said. "High expectations inspire high achievement and high performance. So I welcome that challenge, and I'm going to use it as motivation."
McGregor cut his teeth as a head coach at New Site the last three seasons, after previously spending six seasons as an assistant at Pontotoc. The Royals went 34-28 with two playoff appearances in Class 2A under McGregor, with COVID-19 ending their 2020 campaign at 6-1.
New Site went 11-15 this year but had first-round opponent Pisgah on the ropes. The Royals took Game 1 on the road, 6-4 in eight innings, before dropping Game 2, 4-2 in nine innings. The Dragons took the series with a 5-4 win in Game 3 and worked themselves into the North half finals.
"That was a competitive week of baseball, and we just came out on the short end of the stick, but I was just proud of our guys for emptying the tank and leaving it all out there," said McGregor.
That mantra is something McGregor learned quickly that his programs needed to possess in order to be successful. With his new move, just minutes away in Prentiss County, he envisions a similar makeup for the next version of the Blue Devils.
"We wanted to build our program on outworking everybody and out-toughing everybody," McGregor said of what he accomplished at New Site. "That's what I think breeds winning baseball, and that's what I hope to bring with me to Booneville."
