Familiar faces, different positions for GHS coaches

Three Granbury High teams will have new head coaches, but those taking those jobs are certainly not new.

Mallory Smith takes over as head softball coach as Chad Kimberling is the third head coach to announce his departure in less than a month. He took the job as head coach of New Caney near Houston. Smith was an assistant last season as the Lady Pirates reached the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

Brad Eppler moves from assistant to head baseball coach. Brad Hart became the head coach at Burleson Centennial after leading GHS to four playoff appearances in his five seasons.

Amber Ward replaces Mike Pinkerton as head girls track coach. Ward will also remain head cross country coach. She has had competitors reach regionals in each of her 10 seasons at the helm.

Pinkerton is now the head girls basketball coach at Aledo. The Ladycats share District 7-4A with Granbury.

“I truly believe that if our own people have been great team players and have worked hard, we need to give them the same opportunities that we all got,” said Granbury Athletic Director Dwight Butler. “I have complete confidence in all three of them, and I am about the future of these programs.”

GHS boys basketball assistant Josh Jones has also left to become head coach at Millsap. Jones helped head coach David Breazeale lead the Pirates to their first bidistrict layoff berth in more than a dozen years last season.

“It goes to show we have really good coaches,” Butler said. “When you hire really good people, other people want them.”

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Category: Granbury Sports Archived, Sports Archived