HAMILTON — Ray Weeks never forgot the words.
After more than 20 years as a coach, Weeks always kept the advice of Jerry Crowe, his first coaching boss at Bayou Academy in Cleveland, somewhere in the back of his mind to help him stay grounded.
“You will know when it is the right time” to step aside,” Crowe said, undoubtedly in one of those teaching moments veteran coaches have with young coaches.
It didn’t occur to Weeks he would have to weigh the significance of Crowe’s advice until recently when he learned there was an opening for a seventh- and eighth-grade principal in Nettleton.
The more Weeks contemplated the benefits of that position and how much he enjoyed coaching football at Hamilton High School, the more it dawned on him that one career might be coming to an end.
“I think it is the right time,” Weeks said. “It’s just a good position, and something at this stage of my career I feel good about.”
The final decision came earlier this week, when Weeks stepped down after 11 seasons as football coach / athletic director / assistant principal at Hamilton High. Weeks guided the Lions to a 58-68 record and six playoff appearances. He twice finished with nine victories. In 2011, Hamilton (9-3) lost to Hallandale Simmons 8-6 in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1A playoffs. In 2013, Hamilton upset Mound Bayou JFK 27-26 on the road in the first round and lost to St. Aloysius 13-12 in the second round in Hamilton.
The victory against Mound Bayou JFK was the program’s first playoff win since 1986.
Weeks also coached at Heritage Academy in Columbus, Leake Academy, Aberdeen High, and at Bayou Academy in his 26-year career. He said he won’t serve in a coaching role next season, even if he admitted he likely would miss football and working with the players and the coaches.
“You hear the saying, ‘You know it’s time to go if you can live without it,’ ” Weeks said. “I won’t miss the grind. I am sure I will miss Friday nights, but I think all coaches who get out of it will tell you that. … I am sure I will make those connections with what I am about to do, but football always will be a part of my life. I just won’t be actively coaching them.”
Weeks said he still will live in Hamilton and keep track of the football players at Hamilton and the program because he has an “investment” in both. He said he “really wasn’t actively looking” for another job, but he admitted he was “at peace” after he prayed about his decision and he decided to step away from coaching.
Weeks said his daughter, Lauren Poole, teaches in Nettleton, which is part of the reason he decided to take the job as principal. He also said he and his wife expect to be grandparents — Weeks said Lauren is due Nov. 8 — so that gave him even more to think about and another reason to want to spend more time with his family.
The flip side of the equation is Weeks believes Hamilton, led by rising senior running back Keshon Heard, should have a very good team in 2015. Weeks said he considered staying on as coach and seeing another senior class through, but he said it would have been difficult to find a time to leave if he continued to follow that thinking.
Weeks arrived at Hamilton High to try to bring stability to a program that had been through three head coaches in the four seasons before he arrived. After going 1-9 in his first season, Weeks led the Lions to a 7-5 mark and a trip back to the Class 1A playoffs.
“I think it has been a rebuilding,” Weeks said when asked to characterize his time as coach at Hamilton High. “When I came here, the program had been down. In the 80s, they had a lot of tradition here, so we came in and our motto the first year was to ‘Restore the Roar.’ It has been a process. We have improved the facilities. I think the facilities here compared to 1A and a lot of 2A schools are second to none. That is a credit to our administration and parents as well because they do a lot. It also has been getting the kids to buy in to what we were doing.”
“Throughout the 11 years, I think we have built it back to where Hamilton is now a traditional playoff team. I think when teams play us we’re going to play hard, we’re going to do it the right way. We have had ups and downs, which every small school is going to go through, but from where the program was when we took it to where it is now, I think we have made great strides in bringing it back close to what it used to be.”
Hamilton High Principal Tim Dickerson said a job opening for a football coach/assistant principal has been posted on the MHSAA web site since Tuesday. He said he has received more than 30 resumes, and that he hopes to find a replacement for Weeks in the next two weeks. But he cautioned he “never has been known to rush things,” so he doesn’t want to limit himself to those two weeks if another candidate comes open and wants to talk to him about the positions.
Dickerson, who is finishing his fourth year as principal, credited Weeks for his work with the football program and the athletic department.
“They have always been competitive in a pretty competitive division, and there have been some road blocks set up for us at times,” Dickerson said. “But from week to week he worked those kids and got everything out of them. They would go out on Friday nights as prepared as they could be. He supported his kids as well as he could. He sure made an impact on a lot of kids.”
Weeks feels confident he and his assistant coaches have left a strong foundation for the next head coach. He hopes the person who replaces him will continue to treat the players the right way and impress upon them they don’t have to be the best athletes but they can be the hardest workers.
“I am a firm believer in that the harder you work, the more success you’re going to have,” Weeks said. “I think you can outwork people and be successful, and that is what we tried to do.”
Weeks also thanked the Hamilton community for supporting the kids and the athletic program in his time at the school. He said the community helped Hamilton come to have some of the best athletic facilities in the area.
“There are a lot of good people in this community who sacrifice for the kids and who have been committed to the program,” Weeks said. “Without them, we couldn’t have what we have, and the kids take pride in that, too.
“I appreciate the administration and their support through the years, from coach (Mark) Howell to Mr. Dickerson to Scott Cantrell, our superintendent. They have always been supportive and always backed us up in what we were trying to do. As football coaches, you have got to have that to be successful, and we’re fortunate enough to have that here.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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