Hall of Fame coach won 12 state titles in Columbus. Now, Bobby Howard is fired in Florida
Bobby Howard, who led Columbus High School to 12 state championships, has been fired in the middle of the season from his position as a head baseball coach in Florida.
Brian Bullock, principal of Mosley High School in Lynn Haven, a suburb of Panama City, announced Howard’s dismissal in an email Monday, multiple news outlets reported
“We appreciate Coach Howard’s service as Head Baseball Coach but, at this time, we’ve made the decision to go in a different direction with our program and our expectations,” Bullock said in the written statement, according to the Panama City News Herald.
No specific reason for Howard’s firing was given in the email, and none of the media reporting the news suggested one, other than noting Mosley’s record was 7-10 and on a three-game losing streak. Last season, Howard’s first at Mosley, the team went 19-10 and reached the second round (final 16) of the state playoffs.
The Ledger-Enquirer didn’t reach Bullock before publication.
Howard declined the Ledger-Enquirer’s request to comment about his firing. Asked whether he plans to move back to the Columbus area and whether he plans to continue coaching somewhere, Howard said in a text message Wednesday night, “No idea at this time.”
Bullock appointed Mosley Athletics Director Doug Lee as the interim head baseball coach. Lee led the team to a state championship in 2002 while coaching the Mosley Dolphins from 1999-2004.
As a head baseball coach for more than 40 seasons, Howard has won more than 70% of his games. The last team he coached in the Columbus area was Pacelli in (2018-2022), where he notched his 1,000th career victory in 2019. He led the Vikings to the Georgia High School Association Class A state quarterfinals in the last two of those seasons before resigning to join Mosley.
Howard guided Columbus High to 12 state titles and seven state runner-up finishes, as well as 29 region championships, in 31 seasons there. He also has coached at Jordan Vocational High School, Chattahoochee Valley Community College, Kendrick High School, Central High School and Middle Georgia College.
An 11-time state coach of the year in Georgia, Howard was honored as the ABCA/Diamond Baseball National Coach of the Year in 2000, the USA Today National Coach of the Year in 2004 and the ESPN High School Coach of the Year in 2012.
Howard has been inducted as a coach into the Georgia Dugout Sports Hall of Fame, the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame, the Sunbelt Classic Hall of Fame, the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, National High School Baseball Hall of Fame and the Georgia Coaches Hall of Fame.
As a player, he was inducted into Columbus State University’s Hall of Fame and the Jordan Vocational High School Hall of Fame.
