It didn’t take long for Buchholz High School to find its new head baseball coach.

Associate head coach Chris Malphurs was selected to lead the Bobcats’ program after longtime BHS Athletics Director and baseball coach Ron Brooks retired last week.

“Coach Malphurs has helped Coach Brooks this past season as his main assistant coach,” said new Buchholz Athletics Director Billy Pankey. “He also has several years of prior head coaching experience throughout the county. We are extremely excited about the vision that he will bring to Buchholz going forward.”

Malphurs joined the Buchholz staff for the 2025 season after serving as an associate head coach at Santa Fe High School in Alachua during the 2024 season.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” Malphurs said. “It’s exciting. I’m very aware of the history of this program and this high school, 55 years. There have been six head coaches here and I’m No. 7. That’s not lost on me. This has been a tremendous program, and I just feel fortunate to be the steward of it to keep pushing it forward.”

In addition to Brooks (who was also the pitching coach), longtime assistant head coach/outfield coach Greg Norman is stepping away after 43 years with the program as a player and coach, along with assistant coach Greg Gillman (catching/assistant pitching coach).

“I’m really excited for Chris,” Gillman said. “We’re both from Alachua and I grew up with a lot of Chris’ family. I knew both his parents and when Coach Brooks talked about bringing Chris over, I told him I knew his family and what type of family they are. I know Chris will never do anything that’s going to put a bad light on his family, on the school, and on the community. He’s a hard worker and we’re glad to have it in someone’s hands like that.”

Norman won’t return as a coach but he “may help with some field stuff.”

“I think it’s (program) in good hands,” Norman said. “I said it at the banquet last night, Chris coached third for us, he coached all of our infielders, he’s been a head coach. It was good for him to be with us for a year. I think it’s going to be a very smooth transition.”

The first order of business will be to put together a new coaching staff.

“We’ve got to hire some folks, so that will be the first thing that we do, but we’ve got a short list of some people that we’re going to reach out to,” Malphurs said. “Knowing the facility, the layout, all those things, opponents that we can go and talk to. It just puts us at an advantage where we’re not going to miss a beat. We’re going to get right to work and keep it rolling.”

Mike Sopko, who coached with Malphurs at Gainesville, Santa Fe, and Oak Hall, will return as the hitting coach.

Malphurs, a 2004 graduate of Santa Fe, was also an umpire, so he’s been in the area working in baseball in some capacity for 25 years.

“I was on the track (to be an umpire) and was going to go to pro school and look to get into professional umpiring,” he said. “Things shifted. Todd [Gray, former Santa Fe coach] got back into coaching because we were umpiring together at the time, and he needed some help, and it just kind of took off from there.”

Malphurs was the head coach at Oak Hall for three years, spent six years at GHS, and served as the interim head coach at Santa Fe midway during the 2024 season.

“I think Chris is going to do a wonderful job,” Brooks said. “It was important to have somebody who has been in our program now that knows how we operate, how the school operates. I think he’ll do a tremendous job. He’s got head coaching experience…he’s going to do his own thing, coach how he wants to coach, but just to be immersed in the culture for a year I think is really important.”

The bar is certainly high.

The Bobcats (33-3) finished with a program record for victories, including the most wins by any program in any classification this season.

They advanced to the FHSAA Class 6A state championship game for the second straight year, before falling to Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas in this year’s title game.

“It’s extremely tough to get there (final four),” Malphurs said. “It’s even tougher to win it but we talk about not expectations, but standards. I think each coach that’s been here has raised the standard. Bob Smith did a great job here for 20-plus years and never got over the hump. He made it to some regional finals but never won them. Coach Brooks was here 15 years and in years 14 and 15 he gets over the hump and gets to the final four. Those are the standards we’re going to expect.”

The cupboard is not bare.

Despite the loss of college signees J.J. Gardner (Jacksonville University), Kai So (Harvard), Cedaris Smith (College of Central Florida), and Wyatt Clarke (Belmont Abbey College), six starters return in 2026.

“I’m very excited,” said junior second baseman Blake Brewer, the FACA Class 6A District 7 Player of the Year who led the team with 47 hits and a .398 batting average. “He knows a lot about baseball, and he was a great coach this year, so I don’t think there’s anybody better…he already has a relationship with all the players. We have a good bond with him.”

Malphurs will have an experienced infield to work with next season as all four main infielders return.

“He’s a great coach and he looks out for all of his players,” said sophomore shortstop Hudson Sapp, who was third on the team with 17 stolen bases. “He’s definitely a player’s coach. It’s great to have him on the staff. He’s a competitor…everybody returning loves him.”