Bay introduces Michael Duffie as new boys basketball head coach

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -The Bay boys basketball program has its new head coach in place. Friday A.D. Glenn Manley and Principal Blythe Carpenter officially welcoming Michael Duffie to Bay, introducing the new coach in the Red Room Friday afternoon. Duffie a veteran coach with 38 years experience, mainly in Georgia, but Tennessee as well. He’s coached on all levels. And after retiring from the Georgia system, he and his wife were looking to move south to the coast!

”It wasn’t, I hadn’t sent my résumé in an hour, he calls me and says are you serious?” Duffie told us of a conversation with coach Manley. “I said yes sir I’m dead serious. So the rest is history. Like I said I’ve been doing it for 38 years, I’ve been a head coach for 34 years. I’v I’ve been from single-A to 6A. I’ve coached at schools with 400 and schools of 2400.”

The coach says he’s never come into a program that didn’t have a losing record the previous year. The Tornadoes 20-8 last season under coach Cook. Dufie says he’s watched some Bay games from last season and is impressed with the team.

“Every program that I’ve ever taken over has been a single digit win program.” Duffie told us. “And I’ve always been fortunate enough to have good help and good players enough to turn it around. I don’t have to do that here, I don’t think. I think instead of starting at a and trying to get to Z, I think we’re about at S or T, we’re on down the line here. So I’m excited about that. I’m excited about trying to get this program to the next level.”

The coach says he’s watched some Bay games from last year so he’s already familiarizing himself with the returning players. He’ll get the summer program, he says, started as soon as he makes the move south in a couple of weeks or so.

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