Mary Lauren Hartline is returning to the bench — once again, a head coach.

The former Fairview varsity girls leader is taking over the same position at Holly Pond, where she replaces Andrew Kelley following the latter’s five-year tenure with the school.

Though the hiring wasn’t made official until Monday, Hartline wasted little time in building a foundation and laying out her vision in the weeks that preceded board approval.

Even if, initially, it all came as a bit of a surprise.

“I was very happy at Cullman, especially professionally,” Hartline said. “I’ve improved so much in the classroom, and that’s a lot more of my job as far as time goes. I really wasn’t looking, but I thought maybe I’d start looking again in a couple of years. This all just happened by chance. (Holly Pond Principal) Dr. (Janet) Turner was looking for a strength coach and asked if I was interested around spring break. Then I was asked if I was interested in coaching basketball.

“Being away for four years, I didn’t think anyone would ask me. By the end of our conversations, they had hired me as a non-faculty coach. So I got to schedule some camps and ran our middle school and high school tryouts and had our parent meeting. The way it happened … it seemed like it was meant to be. I am so excited for the opportunity.”

Hartline is no stranger to leading a Cullman County program.

She commanded Fairview’s varsity girls from 2013-18 and quickly turned them into a powerhouse, securing a 103-56 record in those five seasons to go along with two Cullman County Tournament crowns and a pair of Class 5A, Area 12 Tournament titles. The Lady Aggies also advanced to the Northwest Regional Tournament three times, including a first-ever Elite Eight appearance to cap off a program-record 28-win season in 2017.

“There’s a big difference between 27 and 36,” Hartline said with a laugh. “I hope life experience helps me do better this time around.”

Hartline has spent the previous four seasons as a varsity assistant at Cullman under former coach Josh Hembree.

While in that role, the Good Hope graduate was able to soak in the game an entirely different way.

“The biggest difference is players come talk to the assistant coach and feel they can talk to you more,” she said. “I really appreciated those relationships. I still have relationships with those girls at Fairview, too. Really just being able to connect and find out what motivates them … that’s great. You know, Josh and I were a complete 180 from each other. I love zone, and his base is man-to-man and multiple variations of man. But seeing something different was really good for me. He’d ask me in certain games what I would do, and I appreciated that. As a coach, you don’t always have time to process it. As an assistant, you could focus a lot more.”

The Lady Broncos, meanwhile, are coming off a 12-win season and return a couple of top contributors in Maddi Ham and Kamryn Tankersley. There’s reason to be optimistic about the talent rising up through the middle school ranks as well. Rachel Daugherty (junior varsity coach) and Nathan Finley (middle school coach) will help Hartline along the way.

Though basketball season is still a few months away, Hartline’s excitement level won’t have to play catch-up.

“The thing that excites me most is the kids’ enthusiasm,” she said. “From the day I walked in, they’ve been cheering each other on and doing exactly what I ask and having great attitudes. If you don’t have that, it’s really hard for you to be successful. But they’re willing to buy in and do what it takes to win. We’re taking the right first steps.

“This is just so hard to put into words, because I thought maybe my time had passed. I thought I’m meant to just be a teacher. But when this happened, I knew I was meant for something more. Teaching is super important, but I still think I’m meant to coach. I’m super excited to get started.”