'My mission is complete here': Why Moses resigned from St. Pauls

Jun. 6—ST. PAULS — When the time came for Mike Moses to tell the world he was resigning as St. Pauls girls basketball coach through a social media post Sunday afternoon, the moment became so emotional that he "couldn't press send," and finally asked his son to do so.

Moses resigned after five seasons leading the Bulldogs and a program that was practically in disrepair at his arrival to conference championships in each of the last three seasons and the 2A East Regional final last season.

"It's been a long, emotional week for me," Moses told The Robesonian. "I just announced it to the public (Sunday), but I met with (St. Pauls principal Jason) Suggs and (athletic director Matthew) Hunt and my coaches last week, and to be honest it was probably the most emotional week of my life, having to have those tough conversations with people that you love like my players and my coaching staff. I know that everybody wants the best for me and they're excited for me, but it's still hard to have. I've had a really emotional week; I've cried a few times."

While Moses is not immediately taking another coaching position, he says the decision to resign will allow him to weigh multiple opportunities.

"I have several opportunities; I just needed to close this chapter and I needed to walk away correctly and now I'm going to take some time with my family for maybe like a week or so and I'm going to weigh my options, what's the best fit for me moving on," Moses said. "The talk is always, the last three or four years, 'Moses is leaving, Moses is going to take this job' and it wasn't true a lot of times. But some opportunities have come up for me. I'll be 38 in July and I just feel like it's my time to venture out and advance my career."

The Bulldogs were 97-24 in Moses' tenure, including a 67-3 mark over the last three seasons; just one of those three losses has come in the regular season. The 2019-20 Bulldogs started 27-0 before a third-round playoff loss and in the 2020-21 season the Bulldogs were 13-0 before COVID-19 cases on the team forced them out of the state playoffs before the second round.

Last season the Bulldogs were 27-2, reaching the 2A East Regional final before falling to Farmville Central.

"I feel like, outside of winning a state championship, my mission is complete here at St. Pauls," Moses said. "There's nothing I haven't done except win a state championship, which is hard as hell, but everything else outside of that — I took a program under my wing that was suffocating and brought it back to life, sending girls to college every year. ... I've built lasting relationships; I've done a good enough job that I can walk away and be satisfied."

The decision to step away from St. Pauls was made difficult, Moses said, because of the connection he has with his current players.

"I've been hearing about opportunities since the season ended, and I've been going back and forth," Moses said. "With this decision being being made, I had Jakieya Thompson on my mind, I had Nyah Teague on my mind, Jashontae (Harris). That's why it was tough. But after talking to them and getting confirmation — like, 'coach, you've got to go do this, we're good, we love you'; I love those girls and I told them just because a family member walks out of the house doesn't mean they're not family."

And when someone else coaches those players next season, Moses hopes they're able to maintain the standard the Bulldogs have set in his time leading the program.

"The person that's coming in to take my spot doesn't have re-program kids — they're already trained to work," Moses said. "Whoever's thinking about taking this job, they need to come in ready to work, because the kids are ready to work and the community is ready to support. All you've got to do is get behind the wheel and put it in drive; it's already a car. I want it to be somebody that loves the game, loves the kids, that's ready to work, that's ready to pour into them, because these kids are ready to work, they're dogs. And that's the standard at this point."

Chris Stiles can be reached at 910-816-1977 or by email at cstiles@robesonian.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @StilesOnSports.