NATCHEZ — After two seasons as head football coach at Cathedral High School, Ron Rushing is moving up several classifications.

Rushing informed his players in a team meeting Monday afternoon that he would be leaving the Green Wave program to take over as offensive coordinator at Brookhaven High School.

Rushing said that he would be joining new head coach Tommy Clopton’s staff at Brookhaven High School. Clopton previously coached at Wesson High School.

After talking it over with his family, Rushing said he decided to take the job over the weekend, but he admitted he was conflicted.

“We made up our minds yesterday afternoon,” Rushing said. “It all happened fast in the last three to four days. It was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down, but at the same time, I love where I’m at, and the kids and people here. It’s tough.”

Brookhaven is a Class 5A institution in the MHSAA, and Rushing said the allure of coaching at a 5A school was too much to pass up, since this school was close to Natchez.

“I turned down some other jobs, but this one just fit our family,” Rushing said. “Brookhaven’s not far from Natchez, and you can get back and forth easily. My wife can keep her job for the time being. The logistics just work out, and going from 1A to 5A goes into that.”

Rushing, a Natchez native and graduate of Adams County Christian School, said it will be tough leaving his hometown, but Brookhaven is a city where he’s comfortable living.

“I’ve lived in Brookhaven before, for four years,” Rushing said. “It’s a great community, and we have friends there still, so that makes the move easier. But Natchez is a good town, and it’s hard to leave.”

In two seasons coaching the Green Wave, Rushing amassed a 22-5 record, making the playoffs both years. In 2010, he made it to the second round of the postseason, and the Green Wave got to the South State title game in 2011.

“I’m very proud of what I did here,” Rushing said. “First of all, I had a coaching staff that, to me, is one of the best to be involved with, and the kids bought in and worked extremely hard.

“It wasn’t me, it was the kids that were responsible for the success. I hit the floor running, and there wasn’t a day that I didn’t give 100 percent, and it was the same with the kids. The last two years, some of the wins we’ve had were magical.”

Rushing also said working for athletic director Craig Beesley and the rest of the Cathedral staff made his job much easier.

“My job was very easy because of the administrators and coaches I was with,” Rushing said. “They have a good staff at Cathedral that do a great job, especially Craig Beesley.

“As hard as it is leaving the kids, it’s also hard to leave the people. The teachers were always keeping me up to date on (the players). It’s a school that’s just a very close group. The support is second to none.”