Ex-Chattooga coach John Starr is new coach for Howard football

John Starr was introduced Monday as the high school football coach at Howard.
John Starr was introduced Monday as the high school football coach at Howard.

Even before John Starr had been officially introduced to the Howard high school football team, he already was hard at work. As he made his way through the school's hallway to meet with players for the first time, Starr stopped a physically imposing underclassman and began recruiting him to join the team.

"That's a good-looking kid right there," Starr said. "He looks like he could help us turn things around."

The 54-year-old Starr, who has earned a reputation for rebuilding programs during a career that has spanned 30 years at Georgia schools, was introduced as the Hustlin' Tigers head coach Monday afternoon.

He succeeds Mark Teague, who had been Howard's coach for the past two seasons but resigned in February to take a head coaching job in Louisiana.

"It's been a long road, but ultimately we wanted to make sure we hired the right person and not just make a quick hire," Howard principal Zac Brown said. "Coach Starr brings a lot of experience; he's a man of high character and he'll do things the right way and build the program with structure and discipline.

"It's a program that will need some work, but it has the elements to be good again."

Starr began his coaching career as an assistant at Richmond Academy in Augusta before taking over as head coach at Josey High, a program that had had just three winning seasons in 30 years. Starr guided Josey to the 1995 Class AAA state championship and later turned around a Chattooga program that had appeared in the playoffs four times in 20 years, guiding the Indians to six playoff trips in his eight seasons. He has coached the past six years at Salem High in Conyers, Ga.

"I think it means more to kids when you help them work to turn things around and they feel more of a sense of accomplishment in doing that, so that's what we're going to work to do," said Starr, who played collegiately at West Georgia. "I saw it as a great opportunity to impact young lives. I knew of Howard because it's Reggie White's high school and I've been around Chattanooga before and really liked the city, so I'm excited.

"I can't guarantee the number of wins we'll get, but the players will definitely learn what it takes to work hard and be physical. That's the style we'll play with, and I believe the kind of dedication we'll ask them to have is what will help us get over the hump."

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.

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