As the bus carrying the South Effingham High School baseball team neared its exit off I-16 to make the turn home Wednesday, Tony Kirkland tried to keep his emotions in check.

The veteran coach knew that, in a little while, he would break the news to his team that he was leaving to return to Colquitt County as that program’s head coach.

“The last 30 minutes was tough,” he said of the bus ride back from Newnan. “There was no turning back.”

As the players cleaned out the lockers after returning back to the field, Kirkland gathered the 10 departing seniors to tell them.

And then he called the rest of the team together.

“It was possibly the worst thing I’ve done in my entire life when I walked in and told the players,” Kirkland said. “I knew they wouldn’t be happy, but I didn’t expect the tears and emotions I got. I probably cried more (Wednesday) than I had since when I was a little-bitty boy.”

Kirkland’s six seasons at the helm of the Mustangs ended with Tuesday’s doubleheader loss to Northgate in the Class AAAA state quarterfinals. Four times, Kirkland guided the Mustangs to state semifinal berths and they made the state playoffs all six years.

"I am proud of that. I’m proud of the wins,” he said. “I’m proud of the championships. I’m proud of the field — this is my baby — and I’m proud of what the board of education has done for us.

“But I’m proud of the relationships I have been able to create since I’ve been here.”

Kirkland said coaches really aren’t supposed to create friendships with their players, but he was heartened by his players, whether they go on to play baseball in college or the pros or not, and their calls and personal visits over the years.

His own family has played a large part in the decision to return to Colquitt County. His parents live in the Dothan, Ala., area, and Kirkland figures he gets to see them only two or three times a year.

“Family was the number one factor,” he said. “That was huge.”

Kirkland also has been a football assistant coach, both at Colquitt and at South Effingham. But he won’t coach football this season.

“One of the hardest things for me was to give up Friday nights (on the football field),” he said. “I’m going to spend the fall getting to know those kids and getting to know my own kids.”

His oldest son Colin has taken it the hardest, he said.

“He’s grown up a die hard Mustang,” Coach Kirkland said. “Every piece of clothing, if it didn’t have the right color red, it just wasn’t bought.”

His wife Marni, an English teacher at South Effingham High School, also will be able to further her career in curriculum development, he said.