Softball coach heads to alma mater Murrah

By

CHUCK CORDER

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ &045; Natchez High athletic director Wayne Barnett and Sue Johnson have been following each other around for years.

But the merry-go-round ends in a few weeks when Natchez High lets out for the summer.

At that time, Johnson will be making moving plans to return to her alma mater Murrah High School in Jackson to help coach the girls’ basketball team, a position she occupied for 21 years with the Lady Bulldogs under head coach Mary Irving.

&uot;Whether she was teaching class or coaching, Sue Johnson was in control &045; that was evident when you walked in the door,&uot; Barnett said. &uot;Students had a certain amount of fear and a certain amount of respect for her. She’s a great teacher.&uot;

Now not only must Natchez-Adams interim superintendent Mary-Kate Garvin find someone to stalk the sidelines with Irving, but she and her board are left to fill some pretty big softball cleats Johnson leaves behind.

The Lady Bulldogs made their first playoff appearance in slow-pitch last fall and instituted Natchez High’s first-ever fast-pitch team this spring.

The leading candidate for both softball positions is a coach from the Franklin County area, Garvin acknowledged.

However, she would not divulge the woman’s name before she submitted it to the board for approval.

&uot;We’re looking at three or four individuals, but the final decisions haven’t been made yet for those positions,&uot; Garvin said of several openings, which include the softball and girls’ basketball responsibilities. &uot;We’re trying to look at their certifications and how they fit into the district.&uot;

Aspirants for the vacated positions, which also include football and baseball, have to be certified in subjects the departing coaches taught.

High on Garvin’s agenda is filling out head football coach James Denson’s staff that is still without an offensive and defensive coordinator with a spring jamboree in McComb slated for Saturday, she said.

&uot;We tried to start early on to attempt to fill those positions,&uot; Garvin said. &uot;(Denson) didn’t have a full staff when the season started last year, and by then we couldn’t find people because it was too late.&uot;

Johnson, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday, came to North Natchez nearly 21 years ago in the roles she will soon bid farewell too, when Barnett served as assistant principal.

After South and North Natchez combined to form today’s Natchez High at the turn of the 1990s it was Barnett, who left to become principal of Robert Lewis Middle School in 1992, where Johnson served as a physical education instructor while maintaining her coaching obligations to the high school.

When he was at RLMS, Barnett typically gave a day’s notice of when he planned to visit a teacher’s class to evaluate their performance, he said.

With Johnson it never mattered.

&uot;I always found her doing what she was supposed to do,&uot; Barnett said. &uot;I could swing by unannounced and she was going to be doing her job when I got there.&uot;

An announcement for all open coaching availabilities is expected from the board in the upcoming weeks, Garvin said.

&uot;Our loss is Murrah’s gain,&uot; Barnett said of Johnson’s departure.