South Georgia - In The Game High School Sports Magazine

Whenever an ex-patriot coach decides to take a job in his hometown, it can be a tricky proposition. If the coach is successful, he can have a long career in the same place he grew up and played. If it doesn’t work out, the coach might not ever be able to work in his hometown again. That’s why Berrien High head baseball coach Doug Nix weighed his options very carefully when he was offered the opportunity to return to Nashville and coach at his alma mater.

Coach Nix played football and baseball for the Rebels as a youngster. He left Nashville for Tifton with hopes of playing baseball at ABAC. He played one fall then transferred to Valdosta State University. In a rather circuitous route to his college graduation, he ended up at the University of Georgia. “I worked some and went to school some. I finally decided that I needed to finish my education,” he says. He started out as a criminal justice major but changed to education when he arrived in Athens.

Nix graduated from Georgia in 1994 and immediately landed a job coaching in Bainbridge with Sonny Smart. After the 1994-1995 school year, Coach Smart decided to move to Rabun County — about as far away from Bainbridge as you can go and remain in Georgia. Coach Smart told Nix if he made the move to Rabun County, he could have the head baseball coach’s job. He agreed and moved northeast. “We went from the far southwestern corner of the state to the far northeastern corner,” he laughs.

Coach Nix stayed at Rabun County for five years. In addition to coaching baseball, he was also an assistant football coach. In 2000, Coach Nix had an opportunity to come back to Nashville as the head baseball coach at Berrien High, but it wasn’t as easy a decision as one might expect. “It was tough. It was beautiful in Rabun County, and we were happy there,” he says. On the flipside, Coach Nix is very family-oriented, and he and his wife had lots of family back in Berrien County. Ultimately, they decided to move back home. “My wife cried when we left Rabun County,” he recalls.

He would be returning to his home community but it wasn’t exactly an ideal situation for a baseball coach. The Rebels peaked in 1988 when they went 31-0 and won a state championship. Two years later, Berrien would scarcely resemble the championship team it once was and would begin a decade of sub-par baseball. In 2000, the Rebels rebounded a bit and had a solid season. The following season, 2001, would be Coach Nix’s first back home.

Nix didn’t return to Nashville to be an “also-ran.” He wanted to win and he set a plan in motion to turn Berrien back into a playoff-caliber team. “It was tough going back home. We wanted to turn the team around and build it back up. We want to be good every year,” he says. Contending for a region

title isn’t easy. The Rebels play in Region 1-AA – the same region that has Cook and Brooks. “We’ve got some really good teams in our region,” he admits. Despite the stiff competition, Coach Nix and his staff were able to pull Berrien out of the cellar and into the post-season. In the nine previous seasons, the Rebels have made the playoffs every year but twice. Berrien has finished second twice and third five times. “We’ve been above .500 and have finished in the middle of the pack in our region,” says Nix.

This year, things are going very well for the Rebels. At the time of this interview, Berrien was 6-2 in the region after falling to first-place Cook County for the second time this season. “Cook is the team to beat in our region. But we’re off to a good start – we’re playing very good team baseball. We’re playing about 14 kids right now. It’s a really good atmosphere,” says Coach Nix.

The entire Berrien athletic staff works together to promote a successful program. Second-year head football coach Ryan Branch and his staff have helped the baseball players in the weight room. The different teams also share a number of players; Berrien is a small school and many athletes play multiple sports. “We simply believe in outworking other folks, and we’re really starting to see the time we’ve spent in the weight room pay off,” says Coach Nix. The Rebels have hit a combined 22 home runs this year, more than in the past.

The athletes at Berrien are also buying into the goal of the entire athletic program. They have a singular focus to succeed and get better every day. Keeping baseball players motivated through a long season can be difficult, especially with the weather getting warmer and the other diversions that often sidetrack players late in the season. “We have our distractions, mainly trucks and girls,” laughs Coach Nix. “I tell our players that baseball is a long season and you have to finish strong. We play during Spring Break. When the playoffs get here, school is out and everyone else is taking time off or going to the beach. You have to want it to be successful in baseball.”

Of course, playing as well as the 2010 Rebels have helps keep the players focused. It also doesn’t hurt when you have one of the best players in the state patrolling your outfield. Larry Green, a junior, is rated as one of the top prospects in Georgia and is among the best players Nix has ever coached. “He will definitely play in college or get drafted. He’s a difference-maker. A player like him makes the other players better,” he says. The community has also responded to the program; several of the team’s supporters have helped improve the Rebels’ facilities. “When things like that start happening, the kids respond. We went from the worst facility in the region to one of the best. The kids like having a nice place to play,” states Coach Nix.

Coach Nix believes in exposing his players to more than just baseball. He and the other coaches in the Berrien program take a big group of players to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp in Black Mountain, North Carolina, each summer. “We started with six baseball players. Now we take over 50 athletes from every sport. That’s also been a big part of our success – getting the kids to experience a different kind of environment and hearing the Word,” he says.

The choice to return to Nashville paid off for Coach Nix and his family. The Berrien program is headed in the right direction and they are pleased with the situation. “I’m not going anywhere. The whole athletic program is in good shape. We have good leadership and support. We also have a very talented group of freshmen. I’ve only got five seniors on this year’s team. There are a lot of good things for us in the future,” he says.

When Nix isn’t coaching baseball, he is spending time with his wife, Loren, and seven children: Lucy, 10; Molly, 9; Beau, 6; Bart, 5; Josie, 3; Liza, 2; and Baker, 5 months. “She is one tough cookie. I’m gone a lot and she runs the show,” he says. •