Two weeks after Clinton High School head football coach John Carr left to take the same position at Starkville High School, the Arrows have found a new frontman.
On Monday, the Clinton Public School District’s Board of Trustees approved a recommendation to promote longtime Arrow defensive coordinator Hamer Morgan to take the lead role. He takes over a program that Carr oversaw for just one campaign.
“I am thankful and excited for the opportunity to lead this program and help these young men grow in not only football, but also life,” Morgan said, per a press release. “Here at Clinton, the players’ work ethic, toughness, and resilience are second to none. I am ready to get to work and build on the traditions of Clinton Arrow football.”
Morgan has overseen Clinton’s defense while also serving as an assistant to the head coach since 2015. He played a role in the Arrows winning the 2016 6A state championship. The title-winning team featured now-NFL running back Cam Akers. The new head coach was also on the sidelines when Clinton appeared in the postseason for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022.
“We wanted someone who wanted to lead our student-athletes and someone who loved and cared for our kids,” Clinton Athletics Director Judd Boswell said. “We wanted someone who understood the importance and demand of the job as well as someone who wanted to be a part of the Clinton Community.”
Morgan’s first football coaching job came as an assistant at Montgomery County High School in 2000. Since then, he has been an assistant and frontman at Forest High School, helping lead the Bearcats to the postseason multiple times and two state championships (2008 and 2010).
He was also selected as a coach in the 2015 Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Game and as defensive coordinator in the 2014 Mississippi Association of Coaches Bernard Blackwell All-Star game.
Clinton ended the 2024 campaign with a 4-6 record. Morgan will look to build the program into a power in a tough region.
