Tucker Peavey smiled confidently and looked at the athleticfuture of the Brookhaven Public Schools. His long-range goal is tomake the program successful in all areas.

“I want our athletic department to be a source of pride for thiscommunity,” said Peavey. He was speaking at a Tuesday morning pressconference held at the Brookhaven Central Office.

Peavey, 40, the new had football coach and athletic director atBHS, is a 1980 BHS graduate. He was a standout football andbaseball player for the Panthers and played both sports atCopiah-Lincoln Community College.

“Tucker Peavey’s family speaks for themselves,” said BrookhavenSuperindent of Education Dr. Sam Bounds. “They have been animportant part of the Brookhaven community for many years. Hisrecord speaks for itself. He is totally committed.”

Peavey replaces Andrew Hickman whose contract was not renewedafter one year at the helm. Hickman had moved to Brookhaven fromGeorge County in Lucedale.

In January, Peavey was hired to serve as head football coach atPearl River Community College. He had worked as offensive linecoach at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for three yearsbefore moving to the Poplarville campus.

The opportunity to move home was too strong for him to ignore.”My decision to accept a position at Brookhaven High School in noway reflects negatively on PRCC or any person associated with thecollege,” said Peavey. “It is purely a family-based decision and anopportunity to go home that I cannot pass up.”

Asked about his coaching philosophy, Peavey said, “I alwayscoach players on the premise of how I would coach my own kids. Itreat them the same.”

Peavey said the summer weight training program would be crucialto the Panthers’ success next fall. “We have to hit the groundrunning. We didn’t have a chance to work with them in springpractice. We must be in top condition when preseason practicestarts in August.”

Peavey said he hoped to hire two or three assistant coaches.Freshman coaches Jaymie Palmer and Randy Spring are holdovers fromHickman’s staff.

“I believe in strength, conditioning and movement drills duringthe summer for football players,” said Peavey. He said he plans tocontinue the BHS powerlifting team which was formed lastwinter.

When asked about a possible offensive alignment for his team,Peavey said, “You have to be flexible. You want to score one morepoint than the other team.”

Peavey is married to the former Leah Ann Holtslander of Natchezand they have two children. Lauren is a 20- year-old student atLouisiana Tech University. Nicholas is 10 years old. Mrs. Peavey, aformer Co-Lin basketball player, will teach science at BHS.

“I look forward to having my son attend Brookhaven schools,”said Peavey. “I love this town and I love the people.”

Peavey was assistant head coach and offensive line coach at theUniversity of Louisiana-Monroe before coming ULL. He was offensivecoordinator for one year at Itawamba Community College under CoachMike Eaton. He also coached at Episcopal High in Baton Rouge, La.,before moving to Monroe.

At BHS, Peavey played for Coach Les Bumgarner. At Co-Lin, heplayed for James “Booty” Sloan.

Brookhaven kicks off its 2002 season. Sept. 6, hosting theHazlehurst Indians.