Starkville Academy varsity soccer coach John Morgan announced Monday that he will be leaving the Volunteers to become the assistant coach of the men’s and women’s soccer programs at Blue Mountain College
Blue Mountain is an NAIA school which competes in the Southern States Athletic Conference.
“It was an opportunity to get into college coaching, which has been a dream of mine for years,” Morgan said.
Under first-year coach Caryl Vogel, Blue Mountain’s men compiled a 7-9 record in 2021, 2-5 in the SSAC, without a senior on the 28-player roster. The women’s team, under first-year coach Aron Bassoff, went 5-9, 1-6 in the SSAC.
Morgan also said that his assistant with the Vols, Jacob Hunt, has been hired as the head boys and girls soccer coach at Heritage Academy. Morgan is enthusiastic about Hunt’s chances to succeed with the Patriots.
“Jacob has been an immense help to me,” Morgan said. “He showed an incredible ability to develop young talent and get the most out of that talent at Starkville Academy. It showed in his team’s success over every division team that he went up against. His teams even punched well above their weight class, beating and competing very closely against schools that heavily outmatched our own.”
Morgan said Hunt will take an intellectual approach to soccer from Starkville to Columbus.
“He can win, but the thing that impressed me the most about Jacob was that he always remained and remains a student of the game,” Morgan said. “He is always trying to learn more and improve himself and pour that into his team.
“I have no doubt that coach Hunt can turn Heritage into a title contender.”
Also on Monday, Heritage Academy announced the hiring of Jackson Prep assistant Zach Allison as head varsity and junior high boys basketball coach.
Allison coached the Jackson Prep junior varsity to a 59-13 record over the past three seasons, winning the 2022 MAIS Class 6A championship. As a varsity assistant, Allison’s Prep team won the 2022 6A and MAIS overall championships.
A graduate of Birmingham-Southern, as a senior captain Allison, a 6-foot, 3-inch guard from Pelham, Alabama, averaged 13.3 points and 4.9 assists while shooting 82 percent from the free throw line during the 2018-19 season. He is currently pursuing an M.A. in teaching at Belhaven University.
Allison replaces Russ Whiteside, who previously announced he will be leaving Heritage to be head football coach at Magnolia Heights School in Senatobia.
Whiteside’s 2018 and 2019 Patriots teams won the MAIS 5A championships, and he coached the only overall MAIS champion in Heritage history. He was the defensive coordinator for the HA football team which won the 2019 and 2021 MAIS titles.
“We could not be more appreciative of Coach Whiteside’s time at HA,” Heritage football coach and athletic director Sean Harrison said in a statement. “We wish Coach Whiteside, Brittany, Lucy, Leighton and Ellis the best of luck as they move to Senatobia. They will forever be a part of the Heritage Family.”
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