Busby departs PCA after nine years|Prep sports
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 1, 2009
In his nine years at Porters Chapel Academy, Chris Busby has worn a lot of hats.
Not getting a chance to put on one more convinced him to take all of them off.
Busby, who was an assistant baseball, football and basketball coach, head soccer coach, served a brief stint as athletic director and head of the school’s physical education program in his time at PCA, has resigned. He had applied for the job as head baseball coach but was passed over in favor of new headmaster Doug Branning.
Busby was offered a pay increase to stay on as an assistant coach, with an understanding that he would become the head coach next year. After nearly a decade already serving an apprenticeship, Busby said that made it seem like his hard work over the years was unappreciated and he decided it was time to move on.
“I’d been there 10 years, and after getting overlooked for the head coaching job in baseball, to me it was like a huge slap in the face and a sign of disrespect,” Busby said. “That was the way I felt. They worded it in the newspaper as an assistant head coach. Like they said, it’s an assistant. And I wanted a little bit more than that.”
Branning declined to comment on Busby’s remarks.
“I’d rather not go into that publicly. It wouldn’t serve any positive purpose,” Branning said.
Busby and his family have been a fixture at PCA for the better part of two decades. He graduated from the school in 1997. His brothers Jon and Michael also attended PCA and had stellar athletic careers. Jon Busby went on to play football at Mississippi State, while Michael Busby was The Vicksburg Post’s baseball player of the year in 2005 and 2007. He, too, went to Mississippi State and is currently a member of the MSU baseball team. Chris Busby has three children who still attend PCA.
“I’m not cutting ties. I’m not burning bridges. It’s just time for me to go,” Chris Busby said.
Chris Busby played football at Hinds Community College and returned to PCA as a coach in 2000. Over the years, he has been an assistant for the varsity football and baseball teams; the head coach of the junior high football, baseball and basketball teams; and spent one year as athletic director.
“I even cut the grass for two years,” Busby said with a laugh.
He said he felt he was ready and qualified to take over a varsity program. When longtime football and baseball coach Randy Wright retired in May, Busby put his name into the running for the baseball job but was passed over.
“Frustrated is a very good word for it,” Busby said. “One thing I constantly heard was not having discipline. All the teams I coached, I never had anybody thrown out of a game. My football team, I don’t even remember us having a personal foul last year.”
Busby’s resignation comes just a month before the start of football practice and leaves PCA in a bit of a bind. Most of the coaching jobs around the state have already been filled, leaving a slim pool of candidates to pick over.
Branning said he and the school’s board would try to find one person to fill Busby’s job, but finding an assistant football coach was the top priority.
“This is not the perfect time to start looking. But it’s going to work and we’re going to make it work,” Branning said. “My more immediate concern is getting some help for football. Baseball will work itself out.”
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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com