A Mississippi high school football coaching legend is calling it a career. Marcus Boyles has opted to retire as Petal’s football coach and athletic director effective immediately. He recently announced his intentions and notified his team.
“A lot of thought and a lot of prayers went into this decision,” Boyles said. “It’s something I’ve been thinking about for the last two or three months. I just felt like it was time.”
In seven seasons at Petal, Boyles led the Panthers to a 62-32 record and a Class 6A south state title in 2015.
“I thought in our seven years we did some really good things here. It was fun coaching those kids, man. I thought our kids bought in to what we were doing and came to the field house every day ready to go to work. I felt like every Friday night, they felt like we had a chance to win, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Prior to arriving at Petal in 2012, Boyles had head coaching stops at Wayne County, Taylorsville and Pearl. All told, he spent 31 years on the sideline, which made the Monday following his announcement even harder.
“I didn’t go to work this morning, and that felt really strange because you have that routine,” Boyles said. “You get up every morning and go to work. So that’s really, really strange not going to work this morning. This afternoon, it’s gonna be really hard at 2:07 when I’m used to those football players coming to the field house. That’s gonna be really hard.”
Boyles, 53, doesn’t know what the future holds, but he didn’t rule out a return to coaching one day.
“What happens in the fall, I’m not sure,” he said. “I’m just gonna look at my options and see what I need to be doing and where I need to be.”
Boyles added that he will not be involved in Petal’s search for his replacement.
“You gotta trust the administration, Dr. [Matt] Dillon and his team. They’ll hire the best person possible for those kids.”