Chris Souder has 656 career wins. (West Virginia Thunder Photo)
Mercer County had a “secret weapon” that helped persuade Chris Souder to leave South Laurel and return to Mercer where he won the 2017 and 2018 state championships and won five 12th Region championships.
Souder left Mercer six years ago for South Laurel and won 13th Region championships in 2020 and 2021.
Souder’s former player and assistant coach, Hayley Spivey, took over at Mercer when Souder left and has had plenty of success. However, she recently resigned to work on her doctorate and possibly go into school administration or possibly teaching in college.
Souder, who has a 28-year record of 656-440, talks regularly with Spivey and told her “there was nothing wrong” with her choice to pursue a doctorate instead of coaching.
“But it never entered my mind about going back,” he said. (Mercer athletics director) Donald Wayne (Smith) called and told him I was good where I was at. We had a couple more conversations and I thought maybe I should listen. The next thing you know I was talking with my family.”
That’s where the secret weapon took over. Souder commuted to South Laurel from Mercer the first year he coached at South Laurel before he moved to London with his wife. His son, Conner, now has a 6-month-old son that Souder wants to spend more time with.
“I told my kids at South Laurel that coaches usually put family on the back burner but I was to the point where family needed to come first,” Souder said. “I am also going back to where I basically started and did most of my girls coaching career. I did not want my grandson to be 2 years old and not know who I am. So the secret weapon in all this was my grandson.
“Conner also wants to help coach and that is important. We have family there and we hashed it out with our kids last weekend and they said they wanted us to come home.”
Souder was the head coach at Mercer for 19 seasons and had a 490-214 record. He took players who grew up playing together in Mercer and won back-to-back state titles. He might have won another one in 2020 when South Laurel beat No. 1 Sacred Heart in the state tournament’s first round before COVID halted play. That was the last time Sacred Heart lost to a Kentucky team as it has won four straight state titles.
“They beat us by like 30 during the season. They were the state’s No. 1 team and were really playing well when the tournament got cancelled. We thought we had a great chance to win it all,” Souder said Tuesday. “I loved South Laurel and the kids. They have some really good years coming. I told my players this was just a family decision. I love the 12th Region but I also loved South Laurel.”
He planned to meet with Mercer’s returning players Wednesday before a noon press conference to officially announce his return.
“I know a few of the pieces there and am excited to get to work,” he said. “I’m anxious to meet the players. I have been gone long enough that some girls might not even know me.”
