David Parker said he’s ready to direct the Lawrence County football program. Parker was officially approved as LCHS head coach at Monday night’s meeting of the Lawrence County school board.

     He replaces Mike Davis who elected to step down after 17 years with the LCHS football program. He was head coach for the last eight years. Davis remains as athletic director through June and will assume the school system’s Transportation Director duties this summer.

     Parker, 38, is a Morton native who has been working as defensive coordinator at Grenada for one season. Prior to that, he was head coach at St. Martin for one season and directed the Morton football team from 2004-2009.

     “I’m ready to get back to being a head coach again,” said Parker. “I know what kind of tradition they have at Lawrence County, so it was a no-brainer.”

     His first working date is next Tuesday, April 10.

     “We worked diligently to find the best leader for our young men in the district,” said Lawrence County Superintendent of Education Tammy Fairborn. “Coach Parker is very qualified for the job. He seems very energetic and anxious to get to Lawrence County and get down to business. He wants to prepare our young men for the future.”

     Parker said  he is eager to get started. “We are a little behind but I think we can catch up.”

     He  is a 1991 Morton graduate. He went to East Central Community College and graduated from Southern Miss with a degree in coaching/ sports administration, plus  a major in biology.

     Parker started his coaching career at Newton High School. He stayed at Newton for four years and went to Morton one year as an assistant coach. He coached at Columbus for three years and spent one year as a defensive coordinator. He returned to Morton in 2004.

     Parker and his wife, Rebecca, have a 9-year son, Brandon.

     Asked about his preferred formations on offense and defense, Parker said, “I haven’t evaluated the kids yet. I like to run a no-huddle version of Georgia Tech’s triple-option called the Flexbone.”

     Parker said the LCHS defense would be in the hands of the defensive coordinator. “It all depends on the personnel we have to work with.”      Parker’s new team will play their first game Aug. 23, at Brookhaven.