Booneville Coaches Navigate Through COVID-19 Struggles

BOONEVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — “I know some people say it’s not real. It’s all this and that. Well, it’s real when you’ve been around somebody that’s had it,” Booneville head coach Mike Mattox said.

The coronavirus pandemic has been a cause for concern not only for high school athletes but for high school coaches as well.

Booneville head football coach Mike Mattox says his program has been directly impacted by COVID-19 after one of his assistant coaches tested positive for the virus.

“He’s still not 100 percent, and it’s been two months since he tested positive. Of course, he’s over the contagious part, but he is very, very weak right now. It affects everybody.”

Mattox says, he believes the players and himself have a heightened awareness for how important it is to be safe after seeing for themselves what it’s capable of.

“I’ll be honest. I was nervous at first, but as we’ve gone along the kids have been wonderful about doing what we ask them to do. Our coaches have been wonderful. They remind the kids. Plus, they’ve gotten to see one of our coaches and what it’s done to him. Like I said, when you see somebody with it or been around somebody who’s had it, it changes your outlook at it.

Mattox himself has medical conditions that make him more at risk. In 2019, Mattox had a six inch abscess in his right lung that would have killed him if it ruptured. Fast forward to now, Mattox says he and his team are taking all the necessary precautions as they prepare for the start of football season.

“I’ve had to be really careful this year because I’m missing a quarter of my right lung. I have to take this stuff very serious. I’m very respectful of this. We haven’t crawled in a corner, laid down and played dead. We can’t do that, but you better respect this thing.”

Through it all, he’s determined to be there for the Blue Devils as his team and many others learn how to navigate playing during a pandemic.

“I’ve made some obligations to some parents. To some kids. We have a wonderful senior class. Made a commitment to my daughter who wants me to coach. She’s a student here so when you make obligations, you figure out what you got to do and do it.”

Even though Mattox has his own health concerns, he stresses the importance of everyone else’s safety above all.

“Yes. I’m going to wear a mask because I’m not being selfish. I hate it more than anybody, but if it’s the slightest little chance that it will help me not giving to someone I’m going to wear one. I’m not going to go I won’t wear one or this and that. It’s not about me. It’s about other people.”

Booneville begins its season against Ripley on September 4th.