Report: Starkville (Miss.) hiring John Carr as new head football coach

A notable Mississippi high school football program has reportedly found its new head coach.

After one season at Clinton (Miss.), longtime coach John Carr has been tabbed as the new Yellowjackets’ head man, according to the Starkville Daily News. Carr is bringing over three decades worth of coaching experience across multiple levels of football.

In 2024, he helped begin the revival of a Clinton football program that won just one game the year prior. The Arrows finished with a 4-6 record last season, averaging 30 points per game. Clinton defeated Starkville 31-22 back in October.

At the Division I level, Carr has spent time as the director of football operations at Southern Miss from 2013-15 and was the wide receivers coach at both Troy (2019-21) and Louisiana Monroe (2018, 2022-23).

He also brings experience as an offensive coordinator at the junior college level. He helped operate offenses at both East Mississippi CC (2004-05) and Jones College (2016-17).

Carr returned to the high school level last season taking the head coaching job at Clinton. Before then, he had a long HC stop in Louisiana at Ouachita Parish from 2005-2012, where he won 73 games. He was also a WRs coach at West Monroe (La.) from 1999-2002.

Carr now replaces former head coach Chris Jones, who left after eight seasons to become the new skipper at Hinds Community College. Starkville played for a state title three times under Jones, winning one in 2022. Last season, the Yellowjackets went 7-5, bowed out in the 7A playoffs and finished as the No. 8 team in the state, per the On3 Composite Rankings.