After returning to the program that he had built into a perennial state title contender two decades earlier, Rick Whittington has stepped aside as the head baseball coach at Kinder High School.
“It was a tough decision but it was time to move on,” Whittington said. “I didn’t want to act in any way that would hurt the image of the school or the program. It was just time to part ways.”
Whittington just wrapped up his second season back with the Yellow Jackets.
Kinder had a season to remember as the team earned the No. 1 seed in the LHSAA Division III Non-Select playoffs and advanced to the state semifinals in Sulphur.
Kinder though was in need to have a full-time coach to lead the baseball team. That proved to be a problem for the 57-year-old Whittington due to his previous career working for the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale.
“They said they needed a full-time baseball coach; that needed me there everyday,” Whittington said. “I couldn’t do that since I am fully retired from the federal government, so therefore I resigned.”
The decision to step away was a difficult one but made easier with the support his players have shown him in the days since Whittington let his players know of the decision.
“My entire team showed me a lot of love,” said Whittington, who had led Kinder for nine seasons from 1991-99. “They told me that I helped make them a brotherhood.”
Whittington also wishes nothing but the best to his replacement. Taylor Faulk has been hired as the school’s new baseball coach and played under Whittington at Iowa High School when he served as assistant coach for more than a decade.
“I wish the Kinder Yellow Jackets nothing but the best with the new coach coming in,” Whittington said. “I have coached him since he was 12 years old. He graduated from Iowa High School. He is going to do a great job.”
Whittington leaves Kinder now having guided the program in 11 combined seasons to the state semifinals four times, including a state runner-up finish in 1996. The accolades pale in comparison to the lives he impacted as coach.
“I take a lot of pride in my time at Kinder,” Whittington said. “My payment was the kids in which I coached. For two years, I got to influence, coach them and hopefully make them better young men and men in the future.”
“We appreciate all that Coach Whittington and Coach (Hailey) Landry contributed to Kinder High athletics,” said Kinder football coach-athletic director Justin Reed of both the baseball and softball coaches who have stepped down recently. “They each did outstanding jobs with their respective programs and laid a solid foundation for years to come.”
What will the now fully retired Whittington do with his time? Stay close to the game he loves as he will stay active with the Louisiana High School Baseball Coaches Association.
“I have never been fully retired,” Whittington said. “Where God takes me and that is where I will go.”
