St. James football coach chooses family over gridiron, resigns

Less than two years removed from the best season in school history, the St. James football program is on the lookout for its next head coach.

Robby Brown last week resigned from his position as football coach. Horry County school officials signed off on the move Tuesday.

According to the now-former St. James head man, his decision to vacate the post was simple.

“After 28 years as a coach, it is time for me to step aside,” he said. “It’s a tough thing to do. But I have one child in college and two that are middle school-aged and are starting to have passions of their own that I’d like to share with them. It’s time for me to devote some of the time that was for football toward my family.”

In three seasons as head coach at St. James, Brown was 10-22. A large share of those victories came in 2015, however, when the Sharks went 7-5 and won their first playoff game in school history.

In addition to serving at St. James, he was head coach for a season at Carolina Forest, doing so in 2004 when former Panthers head man Doc Davis was deployed to Iraq with the S.C. National Guard. The team won nine games that year, advancing to the third round of the Class 3A playoffs.

He would then spend six seasons as offensive coordinator at Conway, before moving on to become an assistant at St. James in 2012 under former coach Mark Fischer. Brown accepted the role as head coach on an interim basis in 2014, before taking on the full-time job a year later.

According to Brown, he relayed the news to his team last week.

“I broke the news to my team last week, and I kept a spade a spade,” Brown said. “Honestly, I never wanted to become a head coach. When I assumed the role at Carolina Forest, it was to fill in for a coach who was called to duty for the National Guard. I then went to Conway and then St. James, where I was asked to become coach on an interim basis before taking it on full time.

“I am more of an Xs and Os type of guy. There are certain things I’ll miss about coaching, like the relationships built between myself and the kids. But it is going to be good giving some of that time back to my own kids.”

St. James athletic director Paula Lee said the decision by Brown to step aside is one she backs fully.

“(Brown will be missed) a great deal and he is highly respected as a person and coach throughout the state and especially within our community,” she said. “I completely understand that he wants to spend more time with his family after 28 years of coaching.”

A search for his replacement has begun and a job posting is already being advertised on several sites.

This story was originally published January 17, 2017 at 10:02 PM with the headline "St. James football coach chooses family over gridiron, resigns."