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When the hurdle<br />
seemed too high and<br />
the last mile felt too<br />
long, a coach was there pushing<br />
his runners across the finish line.<br />
When self-doubt struck his team,<br />
he encouraged them relentlessly,<br />
believing in them when they didn’t<br />
believe in themselves. For over 36<br />
years of coaching, Woody Barnett<br />
always went the extra mile for his<br />
teams. With passion flowing both from<br />
coach and team members, the Pearl<br />
High School track and cross-country<br />
program thrived. Today, Woody is a<br />
legend in the Pearl community after<br />
coaching countless championship<br />
teams, two All-American runners, and<br />
an All-American team. The secret<br />
to success, according to Woody, is<br />
simple–just care.<br />
Woody’s desire to coach athletics<br />
became clear in his college career.<br />
He attended Mississippi College as<br />
a physical education major. There,<br />
he worked as an athletic trainer for the<br />
football, basketball and track teams.<br />
Woody’s mentors at Mississippi College<br />
were critical to his development as a<br />
coach. Mr. Joe Walker, the head track<br />
coach at Mississippi College, always<br />
treated people with respect and<br />
encouragement. In return, his athletes<br />
responded with the same focused<br />
enthusiasm. Woody said, “I would<br />
always tell myself, ‘I want to be just<br />
like that.’”<br />
After graduating from Mississippi<br />
College, Woody began his career<br />
in the Pearl school system. His first<br />
jobs included teaching science,<br />
coaching junior high track and high<br />
school football. After only his second<br />
year of coaching, Woody became the<br />
head track and cross-country coach<br />
in addition to assistant coaching<br />
football. Woody saw that his time<br />
with the teams was unevenly divided.<br />
He gave up football in order that he<br />
could do his best with the track and<br />
cross-country teams.<br />
Before Woody arrived, the Pearl<br />
High School track program was<br />
already good. Woody’s primary focus<br />
was to uphold the established<br />
program and take it to the next level.<br />
After only his first year of coaching,<br />
Woody and his team won the first two<br />
MHSAA cross-country championships.<br />
In his third year, Woody coached<br />
Pearl’s first All-American athlete,<br />
Jeff Evans.<br />
In the late 1980s, a student named<br />
George Kersh joined Woody’s track<br />
team. He set the national high school<br />
record for being the fastest half-miler<br />
More Than<br />
Just a Coach<br />
50 • <strong>April</strong>/<strong>May</strong> <strong>2016</strong>
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