Starkville High School is looking to maintain its success on the gridiron in the aftermath of head coach Chris Jones leaving for Hinds Community College by bringing in another distinguished sideline general to take the reins.
The Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District announced Monday that Clinton High School head coach John Carr had been hired to lead the Yellow Jackets football program. Carr’s hiring was approved during a school district Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 7 and is the first under newly inked athletic director Jay Hopson.
Carr brings over 30 years of coaching experience to Starkville, including on both the prep and collegiate levels. In his lone season coaching at fellow MHSAA 7A Clinton, he inherited a 1-9 program and turned it into a 4-6 team with more than 30 points and 345 yards averaged per game in 2024.
Before Clinton, Carr worked as head coach at Ouachita Parish High School in Monroe, La. There, he amassed a 72-28 record across eight seasons. He has previously held assistant coaching and leadership roles at Southern Miss, Louisiana-Monroe, Troy, Jones College, and East Mississippi Community College.
“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, per a press release.
“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,” he continued. “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 staff.”
Carr played collegiate football at Louisiana Tech while attaining a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. He then attained a master’s degree in administration and supervision from Louisiana-Monroe. His father, Roger Carr, was an NFL wide receiver for 10 seasons with the Baltimore Colts, Seattle Seahawks, and San Diego Chargers.
Carr takes the reins from Jones, who led Starkville to three state championship appearances and was able to bring the gold ball back to Yellow Jacket Drive in 2022.
