Published: May 27, 2009 10:25 pm      

Interim tag removed

Brumbelow officially named Huntsville baseball head coach

Hornets assistant Jeff Brumbelow was thrown into the head coaching fire right before the start of the 2009 Huntsville baseball season.

With two days to go before tryouts, long-time Hornets skipper Shelby Shaw stepped down to take a non-teaching job. That left Huntsville athletic director Mitchell Coey in a tough spot, so he decided to promote Brumbelow as interim head coach.

Even though the Hornets missed out on the playoffs, Coey saw enough from Brumbelow to remove the interim tag this week and officially make Brumbelow the head coach for next season.

“Timing-wise, when Jeff was the interim coach it was a very tough situation,” Coey said Wednesday afternoon. “It was two days before tryouts and the kids all of a sudden didn’t have a head coach. They didn’t make the playoffs and that is something we strive for each season, but I saw some good areas. I think Jeff deserves a chance with a full year to work with the kids.”

With a season under his belt, Brumbelow is ready to hit the ground running and add his ideas to the program.

“I’m elated and real excited for this opportunity,” the coach said. “After being around the kids for a year, things are going to be different. I have more of an opportunity to explore some of the things I want to do. I want to get these kids to know what it takes to be a team and to put all their individual talents together.

“I want them to know that everybody on the team believes in them and know that they are each going to come through when we need it.”

The Hornets were up and down this past season with a short-handed pitching staff. Huntsville got off to a good start by making it to the championship game of the Brenham/Montgomery tournament before losing to the Cubs 13-12.

Then District 18-4A action rolled around and the Hornets got off to an 0-4 start.

But instead of giving up, Brumbelow and his squad turned things around down the stretch. Junior Caleb Smith tossed a no-hitter in a 1-0 win over Magnolia, the eventual district champs. Huntsville went on to win six out of its last 10 league games to finish 6-8 in district and 10-15 on the season.

“We suffered a lot of adversity early,” Brumbelow said. “When you are used to doing things a certain way and a new guy steps in, it’s hard to adjust. But we all started stepping on the same page toward the end of the season.

“We have a good group of kids coming back and they want next season to be successful. We are always going to keep fighting.”

The Hornets closed the season on a good note by beating Willis 5-2, something they can build on in the offseason. Coey believes that with the development of some of the younger players and the returning veterans, Brumbelow will get the program back to the playoffs.

“Jeff gets a full year and he will be able to do things his way,” Coey said. “He needs to develop some of the young pitchers to go along with the Smith kid. That really hurt us this season because we didn’t have a deep rotation and this is a good baseball district.

“Jeff loves these kids and they respect him. He wants to win and I’m ready to give him the opportunity.”