The administration at Starkville High School has been on an absolute tear the past couple of years.
Since May of 2023, Starkville has made one brilliant coaching hire after another. Just this month, the school brought in Jay Hopson as athletics director and John Carr as head football coach. Both of those guys have coached college football at the FBS level; Hopson was head coach at Alcorn State and Southern Miss, while Carr was an assistant at Louisiana-Monroe and Troy, plus he had a stint at juco powerhouse East Mississippi.
Carr also has extensive high school experience. He averaged nine wins per season during his eight years as head coach at Ouachita Parish (La.), and he was an assistant at several other high schools.
Full disclosure: I’ve followed Carr’s career for years because we attended high school together in Ruston, Louisiana. He was a few years ahead of me, and I have fond memories of watching him lead the Bearcats to a state title in 1990.
Starkville has a long history of hiring great football coaches. Carr’s predecessor, Chris Jones, won two state titles during his eight-year tenure. Before him, Ricky Woods and Jamie Mitchell each led the Jackets to a championship.
Last year, Starkville hooked Anthony Carlyle to coach the boys basketball team and Matt Wilbanks to lead the girls. Carlyle wins state titles wherever he goes: Four at Velma Jackson, one at Columbus and one at Yazoo City. Starkville opens the Class 7A playoffs on Saturday as a No. 1 seed against DeSoto Central. The Yellow Jackets are seeking their fifth state title and first since 2020.
Wilbanks was lured away from Morton, which he guided to the 4A state title game last year. He replaced Kristie Williams, who led Starkville to championships in 2017 and 2018. In his first season, Wilbanks has the Jackets as a No. 1 playoff seed; they face Horn Lake tonight in the first round.
Now, let’s go back to May of 2023. That’s when Mark Monaghan was hired as baseball coach. He won three state championships at DeSoto Central. Starkville went 14-15 during his first season, and I’d expect that program to continue on an upward trajectory.
There is a common denominator with all these hires: Tony McGee, the Starkville-Oktibbeha School District superintendent. His new hires have consistently sung his praises.
Hopson said he’s “blessed to work for a guy like Dr. Tony McGee, who I can’t say enough about.” Carlyle said he was sold on coming to Starkville after speaking with McGee and hearing about his vision for the school district and athletic programs.
“I could tell within the first five minutes of talking with him that Starkville was a place I wanted to be,” Carlyle said.
Clearly, he’s not the only one who feels that way.
Brad Locke is senior sports writer for the Daily Journal.
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