[04/05/01] Sean Brewer, 29, has resigned as assistant coach at Warren Central and accepted a position as head coach and athletics director at Yazoo County High School.

“It was something I just couldn’t turn down,” said Brewer, who will turn 30 in June. “It’s a big responsibility … but I think I’m ready.”

So does YCHS Principal Phillip Chisolm.

His “enthusiasm and attitude” separated Brewer from the 10 or so other applicants, Chisolm said Wednesday.

“He knows what it takes to win,” Chisolm added. “He comes from a very successful program and school.”

The Panthers won only one game last year and four in 1999. Chisolm is also in the process of hiring a new boys basketball coach and two new assistant football coaches as he tries to bring the school’s other teams up to par with its girls basketball program, which has been nationally ranked.

“We’re not really pleased with our boys sports right now,” said Chisholm, who has been serving as AD. “We need somebody to come in and get them fired up, to create some interest.”

If that’s what the school needs, it’s getting the right man, WC head coach Robert Morgan said.

“He was here when I’d get here and here when I left, and there aren’t a whole lot that can say that,” Morgan said. “He rivaled me in the amount of time he worked.

“It’s not easy for me to accept losing such a good guy … but he’s got so much ambition. He will be a great head coach and athletic director.”

Brewer, who coached the offensive line at WC for three years and started the powerlifting team, was an assistant at Vicksburg Junior High for two years and for one year at Vicksburg High, where he was also head tennis coach.

He will finish up his master’s degree in educational leadership at Mississippi College next month.

Brewer said he wasn’t looking to leave WC, but a friend talked him into applying for the YCHS job. It was the first job he had applied for since coming back to WC, where he was a senior on the Vikings’ 1988 Class 5A state championship team. He went on to play defensive tackle at Millsaps, where he was a national defensive player of the year and three-time Division III All-American.

“We take a lot of pride that he came through our program,” Morgan said. “I’m glad he’s staying in coaching.”

WC has made the playoffs a record 16 straight seasons. The Panthers, on the other hand, haven’t been to the playoffs in the decade since Benton and Satartia High consolidated to form YCHS.

“I’m looking forward to the challenges … but I’m going to miss these kids,” Brewer said Wednesday, just before breaking the news to his players. “It’s sad for me, but they’re going to do great.”

Brewer will replace Toby Melton, who was head football coach, and Kevin Brown, who was AD.

Brewer said the timing was right to go to YCHS, a 3A school that could move up to 4A soon if North Madison grows as expected after the Nissan plant moves in. A new federal prison in Yazoo also has the area growing.

“They’re trying to be proactive, personnel- and fund-wise,” Brewer said.

That’s what sold him on the job.

“They’re really emphasizing extracurricular activities, trying to build pride in the school,” Brewer said.

He will live in north Warren County with his wife, Margaret, and 10-month-old daughter Abney.

He said being a head coach and AD for the first time will be a learning process, but he knows he has plenty of people at WC to call when he needs help.

“They can get ready, because I will be bugging them all the time,” Brewer said.

That’s fine with Morgan.

“I’m behind him,” Morgan said, adding, “as long as I don’t have to play him.”