CLEVELAND, Ga. — Robbie Bailey is stepping away from teaching and coaching on his terms.
After wrestling with the decision for five or six years, the White County boys basketball coach made it clear that he was leaving the profession for personal reasons.
"There's nothing wrong in my family life," he said. "I'm at a point where I was in a rut personally. This is not just about getting away from basketball. I'm leaving education. I'm not going to work for another school system or take another head coaching job; I'm leaving to chase opportunities outside of education.
"I have no ill will toward White County. They've been great to me. This was Robbie Bailey. This was my terms. This was personal. I'm leaving a great situation, and people will probably judge me, saying I'm crazy ... I'm nuts. It's just something I had to do."
Bailey was elevated to head coach after Wade Mawdesley stepped down in April 2020. Since then, he has guided the Warriors to three straight Region 7-3A championship games, winning one [2023] and three Class 3A state tournament berths [one first round and two Sweet 16 appearances]. He finishes his career with a 51-29 overall record.
The Warriors finished the 2022-23 season 17-12 and were ousted in the first round against Hebron Christian last season.
Bailey broke the emotional news to his team Tuesday night.
"We have great kids. They love me and understood why I was leaving. It's hard, and some of them were upset and emotional, but at the end of the day, everyone said you gotta do you. I appreciate that. Most kids don't understand, but they are resilient. They will go out and play for whoever gets the job."
Bailey said leaving his players was the most challenging part of his decision, saying even though the program lost several key players, including Region 7-3A Player of the Year Jadon Yeh, "they're going to shock everybody next year."
"I'll go on record and tell you right now this group is going to shock some folks," he said. "I'm telling you, this group was hard to leave. That was really hard because, when coaches leave, most of the time, it's for a better job, or the talent is drying up. It ain't drying up. That is what makes it hard. I'm not leaving a bad situation at all."
Bailey leaves education with 24 years under his belt, but he wouldn't say yes or no to a possible return to the profession down the road.
"I don't like to predict the future because that will slap you in the face. But who knows, I might be back," he said. "There's no timetable on this; I don't know, it may be over. I don't like to put a timetable on it, but there are some things I've got to do right now. It's not a retirement situation. It's a situation where I've got to do something different right now."
