Georgia high school football coach stepping down from position after 9 seasons

A Georgia high school in one of the state’s highest classifications is looking for a new head football coach.

On Wednesday, Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Matt Stewart reported that Marietta High‘s Richard Morgan is stepping down after nine years leading the program.

Morgan led the Blue Devils to a 48-57 mark during his tenure, but that included a 14-2 season and a Class AAAAAAA state championship in 2019 — the school’s first in more than 50 years.

Marietta defeated multiple nationally ranked teams that season, 17 players signed college scholarships, seven players were named to the All-State team and five were named All-Americans, according to Marietta Football’s website.

After that campaign, Stewart was named the 2019 Georgia State Coach of the Year, the GACA State Coach of the Year, the Cobb County Coach of the Year and the Atlanta Touchdown Club State Coach of the Year.

In more than two decades as a head coach — first at Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith and then Marietta — Morgan racked up more than 200 career wins. He has won three state championships in that span and has been the state runner-up on two other occasions. His squads have also played in 8 Final Fours, 14 Elite Eights and made 17 state playoff appearances.

His final season at Marietta ended with a 2-8 record and a loss to rival North Paulding.

Marietta alumni that played for Morgan include former LSU star BJ Ojulari, ex-Georgia standout Azeez Ojulari, 2020 Los Angeles Chargers draft pick Kimani Vidal, and former top-5 national recruit Arik Gilbert, among others.