Wade Tackett was ready for a change.
New Hope High School administration was ready to head in a different direction.
In mid-November, when Tackett resigned his position as the school’s head football coach, both parties got what they wanted.
The week after the Trojans forfeited their Nov. 6 regular-season finale at Grenada because of COVID-19 contact tracing guidelines, Tackett met with New Hope principal Matt Smith. The two men talked, and Tackett submitted his resignation to Smith.
“I’ve enjoyed my time at New Hope,” Tackett said. “I appreciate the ones that helped me along the way, and it’s just time for me in my career to move on.”
Tackett departs New Hope after leading the Trojans to a 6-28 record in three seasons at the helm. The Trojans went 1-11 in 2018, 3-9 in 2019 and 2-8 in 2020.
“We just hadn’t had a great deal of success over the past three years,” said Smith, who stressed that Tackett’s resignation was the coach’s choice. “He’s a fine man, a fine human being, and we just felt like we needed to move in a different direction.”
The direction the coaching search will take remains unknown. New Hope is still accepting applications for the position, and more than 35 people have already applied.
Smith said he spent most of Tuesday poring over submissions and hopes to begin interviews next week. He’d like to have New Hope’s next football coach approved by the Lowndes County School District board by winter break if possible.
“I don’t know if I can get it done that quick, but we’re going to try,” Smith said.
Smith said he’ll be looking for someone who can bring longevity to a New Hope program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2016 under Kris Pickle and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2014, Pickle’s first season. Pickle stepped away from coaching in the spring of 2018 after four seasons with the Trojans.
“I’d love to hire somebody who would be here for 20-plus years,” Smith said. “That would be ideal. I want nothing more than stability for our kids.”
Smith also said he hopes for more offensive success out of New Hope with a new coach. The Trojans averaged just 11.7 points per game, and when they did find offensive success, they typically got outscored.
“I think his system didn’t necessarily work here — not that it wouldn’t work elsewhere, because he’s had a great deal of success in other places that he’s been,” Smith said of Tackett, who went 15-0 as the head coach of Hollandale Simmons and won the 2017 MHSAA Class 1A championship. “I think a lot of it has to do with personnel.”
Tackett, who will continue teaching health at New Hope until the end of the 2020-21 school year, said he has other coaching opportunities outside the Golden Triangle area lined up but was not prepared to announce them Tuesday.
He said he recently came little by little to the realization that he was ready to move on from New Hope and said he had no doubt the school would find a suitable replacement.
Smith said whoever the Trojans bring in will offer “a different flavor” as head coach and that more victories will hopefully follow.
“The people in Lowndes County — especially New Hope — they want to win ballgames,” Smith said. “We need to try to make some adjustments, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
