Corinth Holders High School has filled its head football coach role a month and a half before the 2024 season. The hiring will create an additional head coaching opening as well.

The Pirates have picked Carl Smith Jr. to take over the program, according to the athletic department’s X account. Smith will meet with the players at 5:00 p.m. and families at 6:00 p.m. in the main gym on Monday.

Smith was most recently the head coach at Person High School in Roxboro since the fall 2021 season. He led the Rockets to a 2-8 overall record in his first year, then a 5-5 mark in his second year, and a 5-6 campaign with an N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A state playoff appearance last fall.

Person will have to move fast to find a coach before the first practice starts on July 31.

When he was at Beddingfield High School in Wilson during the 2019 and spring 2021 seasons, Smith led the Bruins to a 13-7 overall record. The 2019 season saw the Bruins finish 9-4 and reach the second round of the 2A East playoffs. His overall record as a head coach is 25-26.

He is replacing Martin Samek, who left the school after a year in charge. The Pirates finished with a 2-8 overall record last fall.

Since nine-win seasons in 2014 and 2015, Corinth Holders hasn’t ended a year with a winning record. According to the 2023-24 Average Daily Membership numbers, the high school was the 18th-largest in the state with 2,369 students.

Source: highschoolot.com