Byran “Bird” Martin will always remember stepping outside his Walthall County, Mississippi, home last spring and seeing a massive tornado spinning toward his property.
He and his wife rushed back inside, taking shelter in a closet that Martin had fortified in the event of extreme weather. Moments later, the house around them seemed to disappear, replaced by piles of bricks and a dark, angry sky. The cars parked in the driveway were totally destroyed, as were the four chicken houses on the property that formed the cornerstone of Martin’s farming business.
“We lost everything in a matter of 45 seconds,” said Martin, who spent 30 years raising pullets and cows on the same land where he had grown up. “I had three vehicles and a county vehicle—it totaled all of them, and it totaled all four chicken houses. Just nothing left. It was gone.”
Martin did not have long to mourn the destruction of his home and other worldly possessions. Two years earlier, he’d been elected to Walthall County’s board of supervisors, and the deadly tornadoes that tore through the area on March 14 and 15 forced him to put others’ needs ahead of his own.
Hours after the twisters passed through, he and other local officials were coordinating the county’s disaster response, dispatching crews to clear debris from roads and driveways and setting up food and donation sites with help from volunteers.
“I knew I needed to be taking care of my personal stuff, but I was trying to take care of the families down the road that didn’t have a house,” Martin explained. “I don’t wish that on anybody.”
Martin was a known figure in Walthall County long before he ran for political office. Since 2000, he’s been the softball coach at the Salem Attendance Center near Tylertown, leading his teams to dozens of playoff appearances and helping his players land scholarships to two- and four-year colleges. He’s also coached girls’ volleyball at the public school for nearly 20 years and achieved similarly impressive results.
As the dust from the March tornadoes settled and the number of damaged homes in the county soared into the triple digits, Martin knew he would have to find a way to keep coaching amid the chaos. Some of his players had also lost homes to the severe weather, he explained, and he felt that sports could offer them structure and comfort in a time of crisis.
“The girls needed me just as much as the other people that had lost everything,” he said. “It was important to them (that we keep playing).”
A Labor of Love
Martin explained his foray into coaching as an extension of his love for baseball and desire to share that passion with his children. He helped out with his daughter’s little league games until she started junior high, and when her high-school softball team found itself without a coach, he offered up his services.
“I knew the sport real well, so I didn’t have to learn a whole lot,” said Martin, who could rattle off the names and statistics of most Major League Baseball players while raising his daughter. “When you love something and you’re passionate about it, it’s pretty easy to get stuff done.”
With Martin at the helm, the Salem Attendance Center softball team’s fortunes changed almost overnight, transforming from a below-average squad into a perennial powerhouse. The team made the playoffs during his first season and nearly every year since, making deep runs in the state tournament on multiple occasions and logging victories against larger, wealthier schools. The volleyball team has displayed similar dominance since Martin became the coach, reaching the playoffs 18 out of 19 seasons.
All told, Martin has recorded more than 500 wins since taking over the softball team—a milestone he attributed to his investment in the team and a coaching philosophy predicated on affirmation. Showing players that they matter to you on and off the field will go a long way toward fostering trust and helping them reach their full potential, he explained.
“Most of the kids already love the sport,” he said. “And if you treat them with respect, they’ll just about climb mountains (for you).”
Pam Bourg, Martin’s daughter and current assistant coach, echoed her father’s sentiments, describing Martin’s coaching style as exceptionally even-keeled.
“His approach was a lot different than a lot of other coaches,” she said. “He’s not the type of coach that’s going to yell at you. He can look at you and show you his disappointment, and it’ll make you feel bad enough to think, ‘I need to do better for him, because he really cares about me.’”
Bourg is among the 29 Salem students who have received scholarship offers to play college softball during Martin’s coaching tenure. She is also one of several former players who’ve settled in Walthall County and started families of their own, with some even becoming teachers at their old school (and in Bourg’s case, serving as Martin’s assistant coach for the past 10 years).
“Everywhere I go, I see a kid that I coached,” Martin said. “When they say holler and they come and give you a hug, you know you meant something (to them).”
That bond was evident in the days after the March tornadoes, when Bourg and others filled in for Martin to ensure softball practices continued while he worked to put the county on a path to recovery. By the middle of the next week, Martin was back coaching.
“The following Tuesday we were playing,” he said. “I missed a few practices trying to take care of everything, (but) I never missed a game.”
Putting County First
Beyond forging connections with players and their families, Martin credits his coaching at Salem Attendance Center with strengthening his bid for public office. He had been contemplating running for county supervisor since before he began coaching, but it wasn’t until 2023 that he successfully campaigned for the job.
“I wanted to … help entice people to come to Walthall County,” Martin said, noting that he was especially keen to bring new businesses and economic opportunities to the area.
The March storms and tornadoes two years later were a double whammy for Martin, who had to oversee recovery efforts as county supervisor while dealing with his own devastating losses. He and his wife have been living in a neighbor’s old shop since the disaster, and he has decided to give up his poultry business instead of rebuilding the chicken houses that the twisters destroyed.
Despite these challenges, Martin stressed that the support he and other affected residents have received since the storms is a testament to the county’s generosity and cohesion.
“Waltham County is very resilient,” he said. “I know we’re going to recover.”
Martin is less sure how long he will continue coaching at Salem Attendance Center, but he knows he’ll stay on for at least one more season. His granddaughter joined the volleyball team this fall and plans to play softball in the spring, and the prospect of coaching her alongside his daughter feels almost like fate, he explained.
“I still love the game, and I love coaching softball,” Martin concluded. “It’s something I knew I was meant to do.”
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