Bobby Howard, who led Columbus High to 12 state baseball titles, resigns from Pacelli
Bobby Howard, the baseball coach inducted to several national, state and local halls of fame, has resigned from his position at St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School.
Howard notified Pacelli’s players and staff Wednesday, and the school followed with the public announcement in a news release.
“Coaching at Pacelli was a great opportunity for me, and I am so grateful to (school president) Ronie Collins and (athletics director) Corry Black,” Howard said in the news release. “The spiritual message that Pacelli projects is something that I hadn’t experienced in any other coaching job.
“It was a pleasure to get to know and work with so many high-character people that not only taught their Christian faith but lived it.”
The news release doesn’t explain why Howard resigned, but the reason became public a few hours later.
Media outlets in the Panama City, Florida, area reported Mosley High School in Lynn Haven announced the hiring of Howard as head baseball coach. According to WJHG, Howard takes over after Jon Hudson’s seven seasons. Hudson led Mosley to a 145-40 record and a Class 5A state championship in 2021 before it was announced his contract would not be renewed for another season.
Howard has coached baseball for more than 40 seasons — winning over 70% of his games — and at Pacelli since 2018. He notched his 1,000th career victory in 2019. He led the Vikings to the Georgia High School Association Class A state quarterfinals the past two years and a region title this season.
Howard guided the Columbus High School Blue Devils to 12 state championships and seven state runner-up finishes, as well as 29 region championships. He also has coached at Jordan Vocational High School, Chattahoochee Valley Community College, Kendrick High School, Central High School and Middle Georgia College.
A three-time national coach of the year, 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 was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, the Sunbelt Classic Hall of Fame, the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, National High School Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Georgia Coaches Hall of Fame in 2019.
As a player, he was inducted into Columbus State University’s Hall of Fame in 1998 and Jordan Vocational High School’s Hall of Fame in 2014.
”We thank Coach Howard for his dedication to our Vikings Baseball program,” Black said in the news release. “We improved tremendously under his leadership. This past season, we scored the most victories in our Vikings Baseball program since the 2008-2009 school year. Coach Howard has built a foundation for our program to continue to grow upon and for that we are so very grateful.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 6:41 PM.
