Tupelo Christian hires three new head coaches
Over the past several days, Tupelo Christian has hired three head coaches to lead four of its teams.
On Tuesday morning, the school announced that Lance Crabtree will be the new head boys and girls soccer coach.
Crabtree, who graduated from Saltillo in 2015, was an assistant boys coach for Parkway High School in Bossier City, Louisiana, for the 2018-19 season. In high school, he was first-team all-area for the Tigers, then played at Northwest Community College and LSU-Alexandria before playing a multi-year semi-pro career.
The boys team reached the Class I North final last season before falling to eventual-champion St. Andrew’s. The girls have won back-to-back Class I North half championships.
On Saturday, the school made two hires on the hardwood. Robert McCoy will be the next boys basketball coach with Cody Hardin to lead the girls.
McCoy started his high school coaching career as the head boys varsity coach at Sugarhill Christian Academy in Buford, Georgia, in 2019. He held the position until moving back to Mississippi ahead of the 2021-22 season, where he’s been an assistant high school boys basketball coach and the head junior high coach at TCPS since.
“I aspire to see a transformation in athletics,” he said. “A transformation where the focus shifts to building a culture that pouts Christ at the forefront.”
McCoy hopes to improve an Eagles team that went 4-15 last season before losing in the first round of the 1A playoffs.
Hardin previously served as an assistant boys coach at Amory in 2015-16 and then an assistant boys and girls coach at Nettleton in 2016-17. He returned to coaching ahead of the 2023-24 academic year, where he assisted with the TCPS junior high and high school boys teams.
“I’ve always loved basketball and wanted a chance to coach,” he said. “I love working with young people and love what’s happening here at TCPS so I was proud to be offered the position.”
The girls team canceled its 2023-24 season due to a lack of participation.
