Small Town Is Perfect Place For Coach To Sink Roots

Small Town Is Perfect Place For Coach To Sink Roots

If you have a conversation with Brad Embry, the Head Coach for the Water Valley High School football team, he may come across as very laid-back, especially for a head coach in football-mad Mississippi.

THE OUTSIDER
By Justin Geurin

A new Water Vallian sits down with the people that make this town special.
Geurin and his wife, Robin, and twin daughters moved to town in 2015.

But if you keep talking to him, a couple of other traits that become apparent are his work ethic and his passion. “Someone once told me, ‘You don’t coach because you love coaching, you coach because you can’t live without it’” he explains. Football has taken Embry on a journey across this state and he has loved every minute of it. 

Embry grew up not too far from here, in Bruce, which he describes as having a lot of similarities to growing up in Water Valley. 

“It’s a small community with good people, who are hard-working and have high values,” he explains. After playing football at Bruce High School, where he came up against Water Valley several times, Embry enrolled at Delta State. He would continue his football career for two more years before several injuries brought an end to his playing career.

Embry began looking forward for a potential career. He started college hoping to study Physical Therapy, but soon realized football was not something he was ready to give up. “Someone told me to find something I enjoy, and I just really missed football,” he says. 

He began his coaching career at Madison Central High School during the program’s heyday, and got a state championship ring in the process. “I was really fortunate,” he says, “Jessica was in nursing school in Jackson and I got the chance to work with some great coaches and players.” 

Despite the success at Madison Central, Embry knew he wanted to eventually move back to North Mississippi, and that chance came when Phil Ferguson moved from Madison to Tupelo High School and gave Embry the opportunity to join him. He would spend eight years coaching in Tupelo before coming to Water Valley to take his first head-coaching job. 

Embry, who is entering his ninth year in charge of the Blue Devils, put it quite simply saying, “I like it here.” 

For him, Water Valley is a great job and not only in terms of the football. 

“I enjoy both the education and the coaching aspect here, and I am a roots guy, so you have to do what suits your family,” he explains. 

For Embry, coaching as a profession has a lot of upside, but the aspect that stands out the most, from his perspective, is the relationships he has been able to build during his tenure. 

“I think I would have enjoyed coaching baseball, basketball, or anything, I want to be outside and be active,” he says. He also explains how coaching football always provides a new set of challenges each and every day, which he relishes. For example, he described the transition of coming from a background with 6A schools to a much smaller 3A school in terms of time and resources. “We have a lot of guys that have to play both sides of the ball, so we may only get to practice on offense every other day, which was a big change for me.” 

Embry also described more of the challenges facing a 3A head coach, stating that time management was the most difficult aspect of his job. “At a smaller school, you will have to teach, wash jerseys, mow the field, coach, clean the field house, plus you have junior high games and practices as well.” 

These time constraints can also be very difficult on a coach’s family, although Embry says he is blessed because, “Jessica is more worried about us winning!” he jokes. He also said there is a fine line between making adjustments from week to week without changing too much of what you do as a team to attack an opponent’s weaknesses. 

We then talked about his transition to a new role as the district’s athletic director, following the retirement of Trey Allman. But Embry explains the new position has been relatively easy because of the hard-working coaches involved across all sports. 

“We all have the same goals,” he says, “we want to control what we can control and teach our athletes.” In terms of hiring new coaches, he has a simple approach, “I won’t hire a bad teacher, because coaching IS teaching,” he explains. 

Embry also describes the joy he and other coaches have in communicating with student-athletes to ensure they learn how to be a successful citizen. “We want to talk to them about how to carry themselves, how to represent our school and community, and how to be accountable,” he says. His one rule for athletes in the Water Valley School District…”Be the best person, the best student, and the best athlete you can be…EVERY DAY!” 

In terms of living in Water Valley, Embry describes the more laid-back pace and similarities to his hometown as reasons why he enjoys living here. “We enjoy the people, we enjoy our church, and it’s a fun town,” he says. Embry continues, “There is no utopia, so when you find someplace you like, hold on to it.” He told me he can drive from home to work and back without going over 30 miles per hour, and do it all in 10 minutes. 

Asked if he could change one thing about Water Valley…”Add a zero to my salary, right before the decimal point!” he said with a grin. 

Overall, Embry loves the current status of the football program and believes the state as a whole is moving in the right direction in terms of high school athletics. Embry explains the Mississippi High School Athletic Association has done a lot of great work to set appropriate eligibility requirements that hold athletes accountable for their academic work, and he rates the coaches across the State of Mississippi as some of the best in the country. 

“We have a really strong coaches association in Mississippi, we had hundreds of coaches attend the last conference,” he says. He believes there are many great coaches across the state who have not had the opportunity to make the playoffs, yet they are constantly improving and pushing everyone else to adjust and work harder. In terms of Water Valley, specifically, Embry has high expectations for the future. 

“Our program is in great shape,” he says, “teams may vary from year to year, but your program stretches over time and I am excited about where we are going.”

Now for the rapid-fire questions to close the interview with the Brad Embry

What was your first car? 

– Blue Ford Ranger, nicknamed the “Smurfmobile”

You are stranded on a desert island, what three things do you want to have with you? 

– Jessica, Will, and Molly

Is a hotdog considered a sandwich? 

– Yes…but not the pink ones

IF you could have one superpower, what would it be? 

– Flying

It’s karaoke night, what is your go-to song to sing? 

– In the Air Tonight, by Phil Collins

Last meal, what do you want? Entrée, desert, and beverage? 

– Filet; half and half tea; and a chocolate milk shake