Carver High School principal recommends familiar face as next Tigers football coach
Pending school board approval, Carver High School’s new head football coach will be a familiar face to the Tigers and the Muscogee County School District.
Chattahoochee County head football coach Pierre Coffey is principal Chris Lindsey’s recommendation to replace the resigned Corey Joyner, a source close to the Carver program told the Ledger-Enquirer on Wednesday.
Lindsey declined comment and referred the L-E to MCSD athletics director Jeff Battles, who said in a text message he plans to announce the “status of the Carver football job” Wednesday afternoon, but Coffey confirmed the news in a phone interview.
Battles later announced the hiring in a news release Wednesday.
“I’m extremely excited to take over a program with such great prominence and prestige,” Coffey told the L-E. “Carver is always known for football and making those deep playoff runs and having really good athletes.”
Coffey was an assistant coach at Carver under Dell McGee from 2011-12 and Joe Kegler from 2013-14 before he became a head coach. He has a 35-20 record in five seasons, qualifying for the state playoffs and losing in the first round each year except for reaching the second round in 2015:
- 8-3 in 2021 at ChattCo.
- 8-2 in 2020 at ChattCo
- 5-6 in 2017 at Spencer
- 6-5 in 2016 at Spencer
- 8-4 in 2015 at Spencer.
He left coaching in 2018 to become Baker Middle School’s assistant principal.
Coffey said the MCSD board must approve his hiring. The board’s next meeting is Feb. 22. Although he will finish his obligations as athletics director and physical education teacher at ChattCo through the end of the school year, Coffey intends to start leading the Tigers during their offseason workouts as soon as possible.
Carver players and supporters can expect him to focus on “producing championship-level effort in all parts of life: in the classroom, out in the community and also football,” he said. “I’m about hard work and discipline.”
Coffey, 38, graduated from Central-Talbotton High School in 2002.
Joyner resigned two months after leading Carver to the Georgia High School Association 2021 Class 4A state championship game. The L-E hasn’t reached him for comment, and he hasn’t publicly explained his decision.
Joyner compiled a 42-7 record in four seasons at Carver as the Tigers qualified for the state playoffs and advanced further each year:
- 9-2 in 2018; lost in the first round.
- 10-2 in 2019; lost in the second round.
- 10-1 in 2020; lost in the quarterfinals.
- 13-2 in 2021; lost in the final.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 12:35 PM.
