– James Collins rebuilt his alma mater’s basketball program at Jackson High School and now it’s time for a break.
Collins said on Sunday that the time was right for a change. And after 15 seasons, more than 260 wins and four state runner-up finishes, it was just the right opportunity to make a change.“I’d been wanting to do it five years ago and I kind of let people talk me back into it,” Collins said. “I’m just compelled to do it now. I can spend more time with my family, do more things that I couldn’t do when I was coaching. It’s been a great time, 15 years at Jackson.
When Collins finished his playing career, he returned to Jacksonville and joined the workforce in the community he grew up in. He replaced former Jackson coach Creswell Foy in 2010 and embarked on a 15-year career that included five seasons of 20 wins or more and five trips to Lakeland as a coach. Consistency and tough coaching was Collins’ hallmark leading the Tigers. He coached the players he had and wasn’t a proponent of the transfer portal era in high school.
Collins said that he never expected to be coaching this long. When he first began in 2010, Collins said he was more concerned with making an impact on both students and athletes rather than just being known as a coach. “The coaching part was the easy part. I wanted to impact so many kids throughout the school. Stop kids dropping out of school, bad things. Getting their lives straight, that was something I just wanted to do. I just wanted to help kids, period,” he said. “I think I did a good job. It’s in a better place now than it was when I first got there.”
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