Kirk Harryman is officially back in the coaching profession.
Currently an assistant principal at Joplin High School, where he had a successful run as the man in charge of the school’s baseball program, Harryman has been named the new head baseball coach at Branson High School.
“I missed baseball and I missed teaching it,” Harryman told SoMo Sports. “I missed building a program and I missed sustaining a program. And this was just a great opportunity.”
As far as the job offer and acceptance, Harryman noted things happened very quickly this week.
“If you would have told me on Monday morning that by Friday I would be the head baseball coach at Branson High School I would have laughed at you,” Harryman said. “It’s been a wild three days here leading up to this. It’s exciting stuff. I appreciate Coach (David) Large, Dr. (Jack) Harris at Branson and the rest of the administration for giving me this opportunity.”
Harryman spent 17 seasons in charge of Joplin High School’s baseball program before stepping down in 2016.
Harryman’s 2001 squad won a state championship and his JHS teams won six conference championships, six district titles and reached the state quarterfinals four times, with three semifinal appearances.
After coaching against Ozark Conference and Central Ozark Conference squads throughout his tenure at JHS, Harryman will be very familiar with the teams on Branson’s schedule.
“The names on the jersey may change, but the game really doesn’t change,” Harryman said. “It’s a matter of going out and teaching kids to do the little things right and being fundamentally sound. If you do that, you’ll have chances to win games.
“The COC is tough year in and year out,” Harryman added. “It’s a tough conference to win in. Willard just won a state title. It’s a conference where you always have to be ready to go.”
Harryman spent more than two decades in the Joplin school district as a teacher, baseball and softball coach and administrator. He’s currently the sophomore principal at the high school.
Harryman noted he definitely has fond memories of his time in Joplin.
“For 24 years, Joplin’s been my home,” Harryman said. “Even before that, I spent five years out at Southern. I grew up halfway between Joplin and Neosho. The hardest part of leaving after this amount of time is the relationships you build with the people you work with and people in the community and your players. I’m going to miss them and I’ll miss everyone I worked with at the high school…my job was great. I love my job. But I felt like it was the right time to get back into coaching.”
Harryman earned a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from Missouri Southern and a master’s degree in Educational Administration from William Woods University.
Harryman and wife Debra have two sons, Tyler and Josh. Josh recently graduated from JHS.
Harryman thanked his wife for her support.
“Debra’s a trooper,” he said. “She’s at home now getting everything ready for a move and doing a lot of work. Now she gets to go back to being a baseball coach’s wife. I think she’s excited. She’s always been supportive. Debra and I are looking forward to starting a new adventure.”
Harryman, who will teach physical education at BHS, replaces Troy Nimmo, who resigned this past spring.
Branson Athletics Director Large announced Harryman’s hire earlier Friday.
“We are excited to add Coach Harryman to our staff,” Large said in a press release. “His coaching achievements speak to his longtime dedication to high school athletes and their success.”
Now that he’ll be leading the Pirates, Harryman’s squad will square off against the Joplin Eagles next spring.
“I haven’t really thought about that a whole lot,” Harryman said. “It’s going to be different being in the other dugout. But it won’t be about me, it will be about how we play the game. But we’ll see.”
