George County’s football coach explains why he is stepping away after 4 years
When Matt Caldwell went to work Monday morning to start the new semester at George County High School, for the first time in a long time he didn’t have to stop by the football team’s field house.
After four years as the George County High School football coach, Caldwell confirmed he has decided to move into a different role. He started this week as the director of athletics and operations for the George County School District.
“It was an opportunity I had at the district level,” Caldwell told the Sun Herald in a phone interview Wednesday. “It’s something that I’ve been looking into. It all just happened to work out at a good time. I’m looking forward to a different challenge. I still love football, but it was time to do something different. It’s just a good opportunity.”
Caldwell, 46, has been the George County High School athletic director since first arriving at the Lucedale school in February 2016. He has also worked in administrative capacities in the past during stops as a head coach at Taylorsville and North Forrest.
“I have enjoyed the administrative side of it,” he said. “I’ve been an administrator everywhere I’ve been since 2009. Everywhere I’ve been a head coach, I’ve been an assistant principal or athletic director, or both. I wanted to get into that full time.
“When you do the same thing for 24 years and you change gears and do something different, it kind of rejuvenates you. It gets the juices flowing. I told my wife when I woke up Monday morning that it will be the first time in 24 years that I didn’t go to the field house for work.”
George County is coming off a 7-5 season that included the program’s first playoff bid since Caldwell’s first season in 2016. The 2019 campaign included a 24-20 victory over Oak Grove, which went on to win the Class 6A South State championship. The Rebels went 20-28 over Caldwell’s four seasons as head coach.
What Matt Caldwell will miss most about coaching
Even though it’s a move that makes sense for Caldwell and his family, he admits that it’s difficult to leave behind the coaching profession after 24 seasons.
“Especially the relationships with players. That’s what I’m going to miss the most,” he said. “The day-to-day interaction with the guys, that’s the hard part.”
Informing his players that he will no longer be their football coach was a tough moment for Caldwell.
“Some of them knew because they heard it through the grapevine. Some were kind of shocked,” he told the Sun Herald. “They’re a great group of kids. I told them I appreciate all the hard work and the ethic they showed. I told them that sometimes you’ve got to make decisions that are best for you and your family at the time. It was something I was excited about doing. It’ll give me a little different take on things.”
When asked if he expects to be able to spend more time with friends and family with his new job, Caldwell answered with a laugh, “I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m not real sure how much free time I’m going to have. I’ll be the director of athletics so I’ll still be in the athletic world.”
Caldwell will have a role to play in the hiring of the school’s next football coach, and he believes that the program will attract quality candidates.
“It’s a great school and it’s a great community,” he said. “I think that our division (Region 3-6A) is extremely tough and the coach needs to understand that. I think it’s the toughest league in the state of Mississippi, but it’s a great place to be with a great community. I’m sure all those things are draws for people for sure.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 2:18 PM.
