WILLARD — New Nixa head coach John Perry said he would've been happy to retire in Mississippi.
He didn't have a bad gig. He was the head football coach and athletics director at Pearl High and he led his program to a state title in 2017 and a runner-up finish the year before.
But after one of his friends interviewed for the Nixa job, Perry had a change in plans.
"The good Lord, I think, wanted me here," Perry said. "He called me when he was on his interview and he said 'I think, for some strange reason, that this is your job and not mine' so he turned it down and I jumped into it.