Leroy Miles has always stressed the importance of academics with his athletes, so it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that the six-year Selma head football coach and Selma High School athletic director is moving on to focus solely on academics.

Miles gave notice on Friday that he would resign as the head coach of the Selma Saints football program and athletic director to take a position with the Alabama Department of Education.

Miles said he wants to spend the next 10 to 15 years as an educator.

With the help of Miles, four of his players signed to play college football on National Signing Day. One of those players, Aderick Moore, was named the Times-Journal’s Player of the Year this past season.

Through Miles’ six years as head coach, he led the Saints to the playoffs multiple times. That’s an impressive feat considering the level of competition Selma faces year in and year out.

Although Miles’ Saints didn’t make the playoffs this season, there were plenty of small victories along the way.

Selma had arguably the best defense in the area, which was on display Sept. 11 when it held a running back who had just rushed for 447 yards in a game to roughly a quarter of that total.

In a sport where the head coaching job is often unstable and hard to keep for more than a few years, the fact that Miles was able to devote six years to the job speaks both to his commitment to the players and his abilities as a coach.

Although Miles will be missed on the Selma sidelines and at various other Selma High School sporting events, he certainly isn’t done leaving his mark on Selma.

Miles taught special education at Selma and plans to continue in that field with the state department. He was also elected to the Dallas County School Board in 2014 and will continue serving on the board.

We wish him the best of luck as he continues to pursue his passion as an educator.