(Carrollton, Ga. – December 8, 2016) The Carroll County Board of Education has approved Darius Smiley as the new head football coach at Central High School. Coach Smiley returns to Central High School from Newnan High School in Coweta County.
In nine years of work with high school programs, Coach Smiley has served as a quarterbacks coach, running backs coach, wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator at three different schools.
Coach Smiley grew up in Pensacola, Florida, and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 2002 where he was an all-state quarterback. Coach Smiley played quarterback at Georgia Southern University from 2002-2006, where he was a member of the 2002 and 2004 Southern Conference Championship teams. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from Georgia Southern University and his Master’s degree in secondary education from Grand Canyon University.
Coach Smiley began his coaching career at Riverside Military Academy in 2007 where he served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In 2011, he moved to Central High School with Coach Grant Chesnut serving as running backs coach. In 2013, Coach Smiley was named the offensive coordinator at Central High School under Coach Rico Zackery. As offensive coordinator at Central the team had a record of 20-3, won the region championship in 2014, was region runner-up in 2015 while making the state playoffs each year.
Coach Smiley stated, “I am excited to return to Central High School and rejoin the Lion family. As a part of the Central program from 2011 – 2015, I was fortunate to work with two outstanding coaches in Grant Chesnut and Rico Zackery. They did a great job of building a foundation for success that we look forward to continuing in the coming years. The Central community is full of great people who are willing to do what it takes to help our student athletes be successful and I look forward to working hand in hand with them moving forward.”
