By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com
 

          Jason Brett was used to going a little deeper in the playoffs, seemingly as often as not into the state semifinals.

But Brett’s final game as head coach at Houston County came in this season’s quarterfinals when the Bears lost a three-game Class 6A series to Pope.

          He’ll soon begin duties as assistant principal at Houston County, having handed over his keys as the driver of the Bears’ baseball bus to assistant coach Matt Hopkins.

          That move was made official Tuesday morning.

          Multiple attempts in the past week to reach Brett were unsuccessful.

          Brett said Tuesday morning the process started a little more than a month ago with the departure of assistant principal Herbert Chambers. Brett started thinking about it, and how much he liked working at Houston County, and that he was missing more and more activities with his two kids, Connor and Reid.

          He recalled Connor asking if he would be at Little League opening day earlier this spring, and Brett said he wouldn’t because of a road game.

          “And he said, ‘Well, that’s three years in a row,’” Brett said. “I was like, ‘hmm.’ He didn’t mean anything ugly by it, was just stating a fact. It kind of hit me.

          “I’m not going to miss my kids growing up.”

          The 41-year-old took over as head coach for the 2010 season, and the Bears soon became a state contender in Class 5A and then 6A, winning Class 5A titles in 2014 and 2016.

          Last year was a hiccup, the Bears finishing 16-16 in a rebuilding year – still a playoff year, nonetheless - that set up this year’s 27-10 mark.

          “We’ve won two state championships here,” said Brett, owner of an unofficial 180-89 record. “We won (27) games. It’s kinda like, you’re sad to see it go, but at the same time, you’re happy where you’re leaving it.”

          Hopkins has been the Bears’ pitching coach, and said Houston County returns two starting pitchers and most of the bullpen, but it must replace a several players, including five who signed college letters of intent on Monday.

          The 33-year-old estimated that the JV and 9th-grade teams lost a total of three games last year.

          “We’re going to have a pretty experienced lineup,” Hopkins said. “And we’ve got a lot of talent coming up behind them. We have a really talented younger group.”

          Hopkins is a 2003 graduate of Washington County who started his college career at Brewton-Parker, got his associate’s degree, and moved on to Georgia College.

          He went from college to Houston County as a baseball assistant, and also spent eight years as a softball assistant under former head coach Angela Crawford.

          “That’s a little bit of weight,” Hopkins said of being part of two successful programs. “Somebody told me, ‘If you don’t know what you’re doing by now, I don’t know if you’ll ever know what you’re doing after being with Jason and Angela for 18 years.”

          The versatility of coaching with two different personalities who found paths to success makes up for Hopkins not having coached anywhere else.

          “And I’ve made connections all over the state with a lot of head coaches through 10 years,” said Hopkins, the married father of three. “I’m using that. I’m not just resting on here, I’m reaching out to others who have successful programs, the Loganvilles, the Parkviews, who have sustained success year after year.”

          Hopkins said he’ll look for an assistant, which is always partly based on teaching openings. He said all of the baseball coaches – Chris Harrelson, Jared Allen, and Steven Layfield – teach history, and Brett taught English.

          “That’s the thing with our entire staff,” Hopkins said. “It’s different than most, because every one of our coaches is a teacher. Actually, every one of us is a history teacher.”

          Hopkins knows from experience the importance of that hire. Brett certainly did.

          “I know it’s going to be in good hands with Hop, and Harrelson will still be there and Coach Allen will still be there, and Coach Layfield will still be there,” Brett said. “Nothing I did really mattered, it’s the work they did that people didn’t really see.

         “That’s what makes the program run, and those guys are and always have been why we have been successful. We had great players, but those guys worked their tails off to make the program run.”