Alexander Central High School looked inside the program to find its next head football coach to take the place of Butch Carter.

Chris Marshall, a class of 2007 graduate of the Taylorsville-based school, was announced as the head coach at the Feb. 10 meeting of the Alexander County Board of Education.

Marshall has been a coach since 2012. He coached under state champion Nick Bazzle from 2012-15 and then under Bazzle from 2016-25.

His roles have included: offensive coordinator, JV head coach, offensive line coach, and strength and conditioning coach. He handled the Cougars’ offensive line and strength program of late.

In last year’s preseason interview, Carter spoke highly of Marshall.

“I think he’s one of the better young coaches out there right now,” Carter said. “He’s really taking off and growing as a coach.”

With an average daily membership of 1,407 students this school year, Alexander Central is set to become a 6A school once the N.C. High School Athletic Association realigns into eight classifications later this year.

In the second draft of proposed new conferences, Alexander Central was placed in a 6A/7A league with fellow 6As North Iredell, St. Stephens, and Statesville and 7As Lake Norman, Mooresville, and South Iredell.

The Cougars are coming off of a 5-6 overall season and a 4A West playoff appearance in 2024.

Here is the entire press release that was sent out by the Alexander County Schools District:

Alexander Central Football alumni Chris Marshall has been tabbed to serve as the eighth Head Football Coach in school history. The hiring was made official on Monday night, February 10th during the monthly meeting of the Alexander County Board of Education. Coach Marshall fills the position which came open after Coach Butch Carter announced his retirement in January after guiding the Cougars over the past nine seasons.

A 2007 graduate of Alexander Central High School, Marshall played three years of Varsity Football before continuing his playing career at Appalachian State University as a walk-on. During his high school playing career, Marshall played in two of the school’s five all-time playoff wins. In his time spent at Appalachian State, he won four conference championships and one National Championship.

Prior coaching experience includes serving as an Assistant Football Coach since 2012 and serving under both Coach Nick Bazzle (2012-2015) and Coach Butch Carter (2016-2025). In those years as an assistant coach, Marshall has served in the following roles: Offensive Line Coach, Strength and Conditioning Coordinator, Offensive Coordinator, and JV Head Coach.

Marshall and his wife, Amanda, have two daughters, Corrie (age 5) and Sage (age 3). Coach Marshall is employed by Alexander County Schools as a Health and Physical Education teacher at the High School, a position he has held since the 2022 school year. Before moving into the Health and Physical Education teaching position, he served various roles in the Exceptional Children area since 2012.

Alexander Central Principal Jacob Lail commented on the hire of Coach Marshall by saying “We are excited for Coach Marshall, his family, the players, coaches, and our school. His strong football knowledge, coaching experience, and deep-rooted connection to our school community make him an ideal head coach to lead our football program into the future.”

The newly hired Marshall shared his comments by saying “I would first like to thank the Lord for allowing me to be placed in this position to lead our young men in the Cougar Football program. I would also like to thank my wife, Amanda, for her support, for pushing me to be my best at all times and for caring about the kids in our program like our own. I want to extend a sincere “thank you” to Superintendent Dr. Bill Griffin, Principal Jacob Lail, and all the administration in our school system.”

Marshall continued his thoughts “Being entrusted to lead this program into the future and to new heights is a big deal to me since I spent my high school playing days here at Alexander Central. I look forward to working with the players and building them into young men who can succeed not only on the football field but also in the classroom and in the game of life. After coaching under Coach (Nick) Bazzle and Coach (Butch) Carter, I feel that am ready to guide this program with the things I have learned and been shown over the past 13 seasons. I hope the community will continue to support our school and program as they have so passionately done for years.”