Jackson hires former Stockbridge coach Thomas Clark

Former Stockbridge head coach Thomas Clark has left to take the head coaching position at Jackson only a few months after leading the Tigers to their first-ever state finals appearance.
Clark joined the Stockbridge program in 2008 and was an assistant during the tenure of former head coach Kevin Whitley. Under Clark and Whitley, the Tigers went 99-28 from 2009-2018, making the quarterfinals or better in seven straight seasons. Following the 2018 season, Whitley left the program to take an assistant coaching job at Georgia Southern, and Clark left the coaching ranks for two years to become Stockbridge's athletic director. After two seasons not up the standard set over the previous decade, Clark took the reins in 2021.

Over Clarks three seasons at the helm, the Tigers went 27-11 and 22-6 in his final two seasons. In his final season at the helm, Stockbridge made a run to the finals, winning 12 straight games and defeating two time defending champions and top-ranked Benedictine in the semifinals before falling to Perry 38-27 in the state finals.

Clark is taking over a Jackson program that is looking to return to the success it had under former coach Mike Parris, who was head coach from 1996-2012 and won a school record 123 games and four region titles. Clark is replacing Chris Henderson, who was only at the helm one season at Jackson and resigned in January after an altercation with a male student.

The Red Devils struggled in 2023, going 2-9, scoring only 9.18 points per game, and being shut out five times, while giving up more than 20 points in every game. Clark is bringing in a physical and hard-nosed brand of football that saw Stockbridge average over 37 points per game and give up less than 15 points per game in the last two years.