The Magnolia Panthers have their next football coach.
MHS Head Coach Mark King was unanimously approved for hire Monday night by the Magnolia School Board of Education. The 23-year coaching veteran has been the head man at Foreman High School for the past three seasons and brings with him a Class 2A State Championship. He has also had stops along the way as an assistant or head man at Ashdown, Crossett, Parkers Chapel, and Horatio. King, a fast-talking, intense figure, replaces former Panthers Head Coach John Panter, who resigned the position earlier this year to take the defensive coordinator position at Cabot.
During the hiring process, King was one of eight applicants to be called back for an interview. But, according to Magnolia Superintendent John Ward, the former Foreman head coach quickly separated himself from the others.
“He was somebody we wanted to visit with more,” said Ward. “We brought coach King back, along with one other applicant and had second interviews with those two guys.”
At the return interview, Magnolia Athletic Director Marvin Lindsey sat with each applicant, watched film, and came away with “an easy decision” for his new head football coach, according to the superintendent.
“They went through about three hours worth of game film, just kind of picking their brain and trying to figure out their X’s and O’s mentality,” said Ward, “and coach King just continued to impress coach Lindsey with his knowledge of football, and being a football coach.”
Ward said Magnolia High School Principal Chris Carter also consulted on the hiring process.
King is described by Ward as “a football coach.” He said the 2017 Little Rock Touchdown Club and Farm Bureau 2A Coach of the Year was passionate for his job, but also someone with a heart.
“He is probably one of the most caring guys I’ve been around,” Ward added. “And he wants to win football games.”
King, a 1995 graduate of Henderson State University and 2007 masters in administration holder from Harding University, began his head coaching career in 1996 at Ashdown Junior High School, where he also coached basketball and track. In 2000, he was tapped as Ashdown High School’s defensive coordinator, where he served another eight years.
After spending a year at Crossett High School in the same defensive capacity, King in 2009 was hired as the head football coach at Parkers Chapel. There, he took the small school to its first playoff appearance in his inaugural year, then won the first playoff game in school history the following year. After three years at Parkers Chapel, Horatio called and he became the head coach there from 2012-2016.
King’s biggest success came in 2017, when his Foreman squad won the Arkansas State High School 2A State Championship. He followed the championship up last season with a District 7-2A Conference title.
The new Panther head coach does not sugarcoat his personality nor his intentions. He describes himself as a “hard, old school,” coach and has a deep passion for the game.
“Next to my family and my home life -- football is my life,” he said. “I live it and breathe it every day.”
The coach also said he can be a bit intense sometimes.
“I coach loudly, with passion,” he said. “When a kid does something wrong, he’s going to know it, and when he does something right, he’s going to think he did something wrong.”
But with all his self-described traits and love for the game, to go along with his vocal nature, King said his greatest satisfaction comes not in a game or in practice or after a big win, but in the interpersonal relationships created by the game of football.
“The best thing about my job,” he added, “is when I get a call from a kid, and he has been out of school for five or 10 years, and he says, ‘coach, you made a big difference in my life.’ To me, that means more to me than any ring I’ve ever won or any championship I’ve ever won.”
For scheme, King prides himself of the toughness and aggressiveness of his teams. He runs the flex-bone, triple-option attack, similar to the previous regime, but said there are small aspects and intricacies of that side of the ball that can be changed for the better.
“There are little things that can be easily fixed,” he said.
The defense will be primarily an “attacking,” base 4-3 scheme, but with the proliferation of spread attacks in the state, many three-man fronts and system malleability will be required these days, according to the coach.
“People don’t let you run just a base 4-3 anymore,” King said. “... We’re going to be aggressive in the secondary and play some man [coverage] and some 2-deep [coverage] and disguise everything. What we do on Fridays will be based on what we see on film -- we’re very multiple, but we’re based out of a four-man front.”
King has been eyeing the Magnolia head coaching position for a while. He said Magnolia is a place he can see himself, hopefully, retiring from.
“I wanted this job the last time it was open,” he said.
King’s wife, Kim, also accompanied him to the school board approval meeting this week. He also indicated that he had a daughter and was as competitive with her as he was on the football field.
“Growing up, I wouldn’t let her beat me at board games or video games,’ he said. “If you were going to beat me, you we’re going to earn it.”
When asked how to bring a winning program back to Magnolia, the new head coach did not hesitate. He said it’s simple -- it all starts with toughness and hard work.
“Winning is an attitude,” he said. “And it starts in the offseason -- that’s just the way we work. It’s the way I demand kids to work and demand coaches to work, and from the day I get here, we’re going to hit the ground running.”
King also said that you reap what you sow. If your program is not going about things in the correct way, and you are too hands-off or easy with the players, the results won’t be there.
“Kids will do exactly what you demand out of them,” he said. “If you expect less, you’ll get less. If you expect the world out of them and show them that you love them and you care what you’re what you’re doing, they’ll run through a wall for you. That’s what we’re going to do here from the first day, starting from the ground, up. It’s going to be a culture shock, I promise you.”
No specifics on coaching staff hires or personnel changes have been announced yet. More details will be issued when they become available.