STARKVILLE — After serving one season as the Starkville Academy baseball coach, Jarrod Parks announced Thursday he has accepted a job as assistant coach with the Mississippi Delta Community College baseball team.
“My heart’s in college baseball,” Parks said. “I’ve loved it at Starkville Academy, and there’s some great people there, but it’s another step in my career I felt like I needed to take.”
Parks led Starkville Academy to a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA, District 2 regular-season championship. Starkville Academy received a first-round bye in the playoffs, but lost to Simpson Academy to end the season.
Parks, a former Mississippi State standout, will serve as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator for first-year head coach Dan Rives. Parks said he was offered the job Friday and took the weekend to consider his options. He informed Starkville Academy on Monday.
Parks was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels, but back issues forced him to retire after two seasons in the minor leagues.
Parks served two seasons as an assistant baseball coach at East Mississippi C.C. He took over for Jody Britt, who served two seasons at Starkville Academy. Britt was indicted on two counts of luring a child to engage in sexually explicit communications via computer and one count of child exploration Wednesday.
Parks also served as an assistant football coach and taught history at Starkville Academy.
“The timing was kind of crazy and I couldn’t help that and neither could coach Rives, but it’s the way it worked out,” Parks said. “I think in the long run it will work out for both parties.”
With the school year already under way, Starkville Academy Athletic Director Tony Stanford could have a difficult job replacing Parks.
“This time of the year is going to be very difficult because everybody’s already started school and there are not a lot of people out there,” Stanford said. “It’s going to be a wait and see and see what we can come up with.”
Although he didn’t go into detail, Stanford said he has a couple of candidates in mind. He said there is a possibility one of Starkville Academy’s current assistant coaches will be considered.
Parks said several people have reached out to him about the job. He didn’t want to endorse anybody, but he said assistant Brooks Roberts should be considered.
“Brooks has put in a lot of time over there, and I would back him 100 percent if he got the job,” Parks said. “There’s also other candidates I would back, too. Being that Brooks is the only one I’ve actually worked with, he’d be a great candidate.”
Roberts, who also is an assistant football coach, has served as an assistant baseball coach the last three seasons. After Britt left and before Parks was hired, Roberts coached the team during the summer league in 2015.
Roberts served as the pitching coach last season, but he said he learned more about hitting from Parks last season.
“Coach Parks was a fantastic coach, and we’re really going to miss him,” Roberts said. “I’m glad I got to learn from him all I could. He has an extremely high baseball IQ. To be able to pick his brain for a year was pretty special.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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