Bobby Howard is the best coach the Columbus area has ever known — period

Earlier this month, former Ledger-Enquirer columnist and sports editor Richard Hyatt started a Facebook debate over who was the best coach in the Chattahoochee Valley on the heels of Bobby Howard’s resignation after two years at Central.

It was interesting, because there certainly have been a lot of really good coaches over the years.

But I am here to tell you there is no debate. It is as cut-and-dried as a 98-mph fastball on the outside corner of the plate.

Howard, despite where he might finish his career, will forever be Columbus High. And he is without question the best coach who has ever worked in these parts. Period. End of discussion. Not even close.

On Thursday, Howard made it official and took the job as head coach of Cartersville High School about 140 miles north of Columbus. As he leaves for North Georgia chasing another state title or two, it is worth a few words to put his accomplishments in perspective.

In 39 seasons as a head baseball coach, he has a record of 985-296. He won 12 Georgia High School Association state titles at Columbus High and a Georgia junior college championship in 1997, the only year he coached on the college level.

That is 13 state titles in 39 years — one every three years. That, on its face, is beyond impressive, but I would argue it is not the most impressive number. In addition to the 12 titles during the Columbus High dynasty, his teams made it to state finals eight more times and lost.

Throw in the year of junior college ball, and Howard’s teams were in the final series playing for a state title 21 times in 39 years — and more times than not they participated in the final out of the season.

That is the stat that stands out to me. Numbers like those don’t lie.

Some argued that Howard worked the system and the magnet program at Columbus High to his benefit. Sure he did — in the same way that Shaw High’s Charles Flowers worked the minority to majority transfer system to his benefit and a few state titles. The system was in play and they figured out how to make it work for them.

But Howard has not done this alone. He’s had quality players at every turn. Players who wanted to play for him because they knew it was a shot at a championship. Players who conformed to his demanding and unrelenting ways.

He also knew if they played four years in his system, there was a good chance they could play college or pro ball somewhere. There were rings and rewards if you played Bobby Ball Bobby’s way.

He’s also had the best of assistant coaches. Guys who came and learned and helped him win championships. They also helped him pick apart an opponent’s weakness during the game.

I used to tell folks when you played a Howard-coached team you were down two runs before infield started because of who was on the bench. If you were playing at Columbus High and that quirky field with the short right-field porch, you were down three runs before it started.

Howard also coached 10 players who made it to the major leagues, including Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox. When Thomas went into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he took Howard with him and acknowledged that the foundation that he built his career on was poured at Columbus High by Howard.

To understand Thomas’ greatness is to understand Howard’s — two peas, one pod. They still communicate regularly to this day.

The primary reason Howard wins is his competitive nature. He is the most competitive person you will meet. In 2010, Howard and his Columbus High coaching staff were in Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series. Northern was off on a Sunday, so Howard was up for a road trip to Cooperstown to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. I tagged along.

When we got to the Hall of Fame, Howard went into a room where all of the Major League Baseball World Series rings were on display. He spent a great deal of time in that room looking at the jewelry that comes with success. I have always considered that a telling moment in trying to figure out what makes him tick.

In Howard’s world, you win or you lose. It is that simple. And winners get the rings.

He is about championships. He is about winning. His teams have not won a state title since 2012 when Columbus High sealed its third consecutive Georgia High School Association AAA championship. He did not win one in his final two full seasons at Columbus High — he resigned three games into the 2015 season. He didn’t win one in two years at Central High in Phenix City.

At 66, Howard is in the late innings of a spectacular career. Some might even argue he is in extra innings. It is a coaching career that can be matched by no one in the Chattahoochee Valley, few in Georgia and not many nationally.

He does not have that many chances to get more titles. Cartersville offers that opportunity. And he knows Cartersville well. Columbus and Cartersville met in the playoffs six times in nine seasons beginning in 2002. Many of those games were epic. Sometime next season, his 40th as a head coach, he will notch his 1,000th career win.

That milestone win likely will come in a purple Cartersville Hurricane uniform. That just doesn’t seem right. But it is what it is. The best coach Columbus has ever known, a hometown boy, will win somewhere else.

Say it ain’t so.

This story was originally published June 24, 2017 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Bobby Howard is the best coach the Columbus area has ever known — period."