Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District has named veteran collegiate and high school coach, John Carr as the new Head Coach for Yellow Jacket Football.
Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District has named veteran collegiate and high school coach, John Carr as the new Head Coach for Yellow Jacket Football. The hiring of Carr was approved at a special called meeting of the SOCSD Board of Trustees on February 7.
John Carr currently serves as Head Football Coach at Clinton High School and brings nearly 30 years of coaching experience to the Jacket Football program, including work at the collegiate level in multiple areas of the game. In just one season of coaching the Arrows, Coach Carr brought a 1-9 team to a record of 4-6 with more than 30 points and 345 yards averaged each game. He has also served as Head Football Coach at Ouachita Parish High School in Monroe, Louisiana for eight seasons, amassing a 72-28 record.
"He's an outstanding, classy guy –– a high character guy," said Jacket Director of Athletics, Jay Hopson. "Plus, John Carr has an extreme amount of experience. He was a highly successful high school coach in the state of Louisiana at Ouachita, which was a premier power in Louisiana at that time. He has a very gifted and brilliant offensive mind, which means his teams tend to score a lot of points. In his time at Jones Community College, he produced one of the top ten offenses in the nation. He has also coached with Todd Monken, now with the Baltimore Ravens, who this past year had the number one offense in the NFL."
This experience in developing top tier offenses and working with collegiate programs made Carr an attractive choice for the Starkville position, Hopson shared.
"He'll be blessed to have some really gifted athletes here at Starkville, and offense is key in facing the level of competition we see consistently in the 7A classification," Hopson said. "Plus, I'm confident he'll be able to expand our tradition of developing players into strong collegiate prospects."
In his extensive collegiate coaching career, Carr has held leadership positions with programs at the University of Southern Mississippi, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Troy University, Jones County Community College, and East Mississippi Community College. He served as Offensive Coordinator for EMCC and JCCC and has also specialized in coaching wide receivers, inside receivers and quarterbacks at various programs. He has experience coordinating pass game as well as recruiting.
"While I worked at the collegiate level, I recruited the entire state of Mississippi, and you get to know programs and schools that stand above the rest," Carr said about his choice to come to Starkville. "The Starkville position is a head coaching job that really checked all the boxes for me –– an A district, a top-tier program that has won before, a college town. It's an ideal place for me to come and help kids and get the best chance as a coach to experience the whole process. I'm excited to be here, and I can't wait to entrench myself in the community and get to know our players and our staff."
Player Development On and Off the Field
During Coach Carr's head coaching tenure at Ouachita Parish High School in Monroe, LA, he also served as academic advisor for student athletes and acted as college liaison, seeing more than 30 players sign for college scholarships through eight seasons.
He served a three-year stint as Director of Football Operations at the University of Southern Mississippi where he managed all aspects of program operations and game logistics in addition to fundraising, budgeting, community relations and evaluation of potential player recruits. He also served as the USM Football program's liaison with the National Football League.
"Having been a college coach for as long as he has, one thing that John can bring to our players is very good insight into what college coaches are looking for in their development," Hopson said. "He's going to put them into a college and even professional system."
Hopson highlighted Carr's work with a variety of outstanding coaches over the years who have built notable programs –– experience he feels will benefit Jacket student athletes as they pursue their own goals to play at the next level.
"He's been around," Hopson said. "I'm a product of MHSAA and I know they all have those dreams. Coach Carr can help our players understand what it takes to develop and get to that level."
Hitting the ground running with player development on and off the field is one of the immediate goals Carr shared.
"One thing you can know about me, is that I'm going to get to know our players. I can't wait to plug in and get to know the community and become a part," he said. "One thing they're going to know is that I will treat them right and like one of my own kids –– and not just about football. Every waking minute I have is always going to be about how can we do it better? How can we make sure that everything we do is going to be in the best interest of these young men?"
Carr plans to be involved beyond just the Field House or the Athletic Complex. He wants to plug in at Starkville High and other schools in the district as well as in the community.
"I want to be down at the Junior High getting to know students," he said. "I'm going to be in the hallways or in classrooms if teachers need me to speak, or out at Rotary if they ask me. I want to be available and a consistent part of the community, so our students know I'm here for them and their development."
This approach feeds into the culture that AD Hopson wants to continue and grow with the entire Jacket Athletics program –– one where students are encouraged to become leaders and excel at whatever ignites their passion.
"I love players to play multiple sports - to do it all," Carr said. "You only get this time in your life once, and it's just a small part of it. So, excel in everything you can! My goal number one is to help them create the best version of themselves -- academically, athletically, spiritually, socially, emotionally."
The hire marks one of the first official moves from Hopson since taking the helm of Jacket Athletics earlier this month as AD.
"I'm honored to welcome Coach John Carr to the Jacket Family," said SOCSD Superintendent Tony McGee. "I asked Jay to manage our search for a Head Football Coach, and I think he's found a seasoned one who will not only continue our winning program, but take us to a new level of excellence. It's a new era for many of our sports, and no one will benefit more than our student athletes."
Carr will begin working with the Jacket Football Program immediately. He fills the position left by Chris Jones, who became Head Football Coach at Hinds Community College in December after an eight-year tenure leading the Jackets.
Coach Carr holds a Bachelor's Degree in Health and Physical Education from Louisiana Tech University and a Master's Degree in Administration and Supervision from University of Louisiana at Monroe. He played collegiate football at Louisiana Tech University. His father, Roger Carr, played wide receiver in the NFL for ten seasons with the Baltimore Colts, Seattle Seahawks and San Diego Chargers. John and his wife, Paige, are the parents of two daughters, Anna and Emma.