Longtime FPD coach Jim Turner retiring from coaching

After 33 years on the baseball and softball diamonds, FPD's Jim Turner is stepping aside.

The longtime softball head coach and former baseball head coach announced his retirement from coaching Thursday morning at a team meeting, according to a release from the school. He will remain at the school as a teacher.

Turner spent all but one season of his coaching career at FPD. That one season away from the Vikings was spent at Houston County.

"I've known Coach Turner for a very long time, and I can honestly say that his priority has always been to make a positive impact in the lives of those he coached," FPD athletics director Greg Moore said in the release. "His record is remarkable, but the relationships he's built are even more telling with regards to his huge influence."

In each of the past three seasons, FPD's softball team finished third in the GHSA Class A private school softball playoffs.

Turner ends his career with a 257-105 softball record, claiming seven region titles and eight Final Four appearances between the GISA and the GHSA. The Vikings won the 2007 GISA Class AAA championship.

He went 370-216 as a baseball head coach, winning GISA championships in 1992 and 2010 and claiming 10 region titles between the GISA and the GHSA.

"There's certain things about baseball and softball that I'll really miss," Turner said in the release. "The blue sky, the fresh cut grass and the dirt. But I'll definitely miss the interaction with the players the most and hope I have made a positive, Christ-like impact on the young women and men whom I have had the privilege to coach. It's been a great ride, and I'm thankful to everyone who has supported me along the way."

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Longtime FPD coach Jim Turner retiring from coaching ."