Kirchharr’s departure opens door for SIA, Britt

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 7, 2004

[6/26/04]The door opened and Cori Britt quickly closed it.

When coach Paul Kirchharr departed from Sharkey-Issaquena Academy, Britt wasted no time contacting the small school in Rolling Fork. And the school wasted little time in naming Britt its new coach for football, basketball and track and field.

After seeing the opening on the Internet Britt interviewed the next day and accepted the job a day later. He was then introduced to the parents and players at the school’s athletic banquet.

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“It was a pretty whirlwind situation,” said Britt, 30, who worked as an assistant coach at Adams County Christian School in Natchez last year. “It all happened really quickly, and it was the only opportunity I was looking at. I just turned out to be the right one.”

Britt may be the perfect fit in replacing Kirchharr, who led the historically downtrodden Confederates to a 7-3 record and earned The Vicksburg Post’s Area Coach of the Year award.

Kirchharr, who also coached basketball, decided to leave for the betterment of his family. His wife struggled to find work in Rolling Fork, and when she accepted a position in Liberty, Kirchharr moved with her and takes over as football coach and athletic director at Amite School Center.

“The old saying is you’ve got to take care of your family because no one else will,” Kirchharr said.

SIA headmaster Linda Dick refused to comment on Kirchharr’s departure or Britt’s hiring.

The loss of Kirchharr left a gaping hole at three coaching positions at SIA, but Britt said he has experience in coaching football, basketball and track.

“We’re a small school. We don’t have a huge staff, so that’s part of the job to take a couple of other sports,” Britt said. “I’ve always been involved in all three of those sports, so it’s nothing new to me.”

But taking over his own program will be new to Britt, and it’s something he said he finally feels ready to do.

Britt faced a similar situation a year ago at Huntington Academy, when he was offered coaching positions in Arkansas and east Mississippi. While the distance of the schools was a factor, Britt ultimately felt he wasn’t ready to run a program just yet.

He chose instead to accept an assistant position at ACCS, where he learned the nuances of the head coach’s responsibilities.

“As far as just organizing and running a program, those are the types of things I wanted to be prepared when I stepped in there,” said Britt, adding that he’s glad to be running the program his way. “I think I’ve finally come to the point where I’m ready to do that.”

Still, Britt wasn’t sure if he was ready to leave his family behind in Natchez and move to Rolling Fork, but he said it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

Despite the lack of tradition, Sharkey-Issaquena has a stockpile of talent in its junior and senior classes that Britt expects to shine in the next two seasons.

“It’s not a situation where you have to really search for things to get them to be proud of who they are,” Britt said. “What they do on the athletic field just based on athletic talent from last year and the next couple of years should make them proud to be part of that school. Hopefully, that’s something we can carry on, have a line.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to build tradition.”

Sharkey-Issaquena’s 7-3 record in 2003 was its best finish in more than a decade. The Confederates narrowly missed receiving a wild-card berth in the playoffs.

SIA has had one other winning season in the last 10 years, ending at 7-4 in 1998. In the rest of the decade, they totaled 16 wins with no more than three wins in a season.

The success last year started with Kirchharr stressing a strong sense of fundamentals. He honed the skills of the talented group one he hates to leave behind.

“I had some kids that really worked hard, and I was very proud of them,” Kirchharr said.

But that group belongs to Britt, and he hopes the wins will keep coming well beyond next season.

“They’re a class that’s willing to overlook the lack of tradition because they’ve been part of something successful,” Britt said. “We intend to continue that.”