By By BRUCE HIXON-Sports Editor
When Greg White decided to enter the coaching profession, he was advised it might not be a good idea to rush home for a job.
White feels 17 years away from his home town since his 1988 graduation from T.R. Miller High School is a long enough wait.
White is back in Brewton where he will be involved in a pair of coaching duties. White is serving as an assistant coach with the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers volleyball program as well as the head coach for Brewton Middle School. White will also take over the head coaching duties for T.R. Miller softball next spring.
"Sometimes if you come back and coach in your home town right away after college, you have the situation where your players may be brothers or sisters of people you went to school with. Of course now I'm old enough where some of the players are the sons or daughters of people I went to school with," White said. "While there are still a lot of familiar faces around here, there are a lot of new names to me. I've been away long enough now that I don't really feel any pressure coaching in my hometown now."
White has coached the last eight years at Sheffield High School, seven of which were spent as head softball coach. White also coached with the varsity and junior varsity football teams, varsity girls basketball and freshmen boys basketball.
That list does not include volleyball where White will make his Brewton coaching debut this fall.
"I've learned a lot from (T.R. Miller volleyball) Coach (Sharon) Peacock in the short time I've been here. We've gone to a rules meeting and she has pointed out a lot of little things to me," White said. "Probably the toughest thing for me to pick up is the offensive and defensive rotations. It's not like the old days where you just put three players up front and three players in the back and then rotate them a spot. There are so many twists and angles in the lineup to learn."
White admits being a first-year volleyball coach teaching first-year players in the BMS program will be a
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challenge.
"Teaching them will be a slow process, but fortunately I've got three week of practice with them before we play our first match. Unfortunately when it comes to middle school volleyball, there isn't a lot of time to teach and learn. Our first match is August 29 (at Jay) and our last match is just one month later (September 29 at Atmore)," White said.
White is inheriting a Lady Tigers softball team that won 39 games the last two seasons under preceding coach Jamie Riggs' direction.
"Coach Riggs definitely got that program headed in the right direction. They've got a good nucleus coming back (six returning starters). I've had a chance to meet a few of those players already and I'm looking forward to working with them when that season gets here," White said.