Cartersville football coach Joey King, whose 67-4 record (.944) represents the best five-year start to a coaching career in Georgia history, is leaving for an unannounced college position.
King told his players on Thursday, according The Daily Tribune News, among the first to report the story.
King was the high school coach of Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who led northwest Georgia school to Class AAAA championships in 2015 and 2016.
King was Cartersville’s head coach for five seasons, and his teams won region titles in each of them. He was the fastest in state history to reach 50 wins (in 52 games).
King will become another of Georgia’s more successful head coaches to enter college football.
Others who have won state titles in recent years and taken college jobs are Buford’s Jess Simpson, now a defensive line coach at Miami; Grayson’s Mickey Conn, a secondary coach at Clemson; Carver-Columbus’s Dell McGee, an assistant head coach and running backs coach at Georgia.
Olten Downs of Westover and Rance Gillespie of Hart County are others who who cashed state titles for college jobs, both at Georgia Southern, but both have returned to the high school ranks.
King has endorsed Cartersville defensive coordinator Conor Foster to be his replacement, according to the Daily Tribune.
King, a native of Cedartown, had been an offensive coordinator at Carrollton before taking the Cartersville job.
About the Author
