Valdosta running backs coach King accepts position at Rome

Published 6:40 pm Friday, April 14, 2017

VALDOSTA — Valdosta High lost another piece from its state championship football team Thursday.

Running backs coach Jason King has accepted a position on the coaching staff at Rome High.

King, a Newnan High alum, has coached running backs the past two seasons at Valdosta, where he oversaw a resurgent running game that rushed for 2,178 yards and 16 touchdowns at 4.96 yards per carry to help the Wildcats capture their first state championship in 18 years.

The Wildcats lost state title-winning offensive coordinator Tucker Pruitt last month when he decided to return to his alma matter and become Fitzgerald’s new head coach, and now King will follow suit and continue his coaching career closer to home.

“For me, it’s about getting closer to home,” King said Thursday. “I’m from Newnan, I’m right now about three and a half, four hours away. My mom just retired from work on spring break, my brother just had a kid…

“I figured, if the opportunity came about, I had to get home.”

Former Valdosta linebackers coach Wayne Groves works as the defensive coordinator at Rome, and he called King about the opening on the Wolves’ staff.

Once King traveled up to Rome and toured the school, he knew what he had to do.

“It’s a situation where, I went up there and I liked it. I talked to coach Rod and got his blessing about everything, and we all kind of agreed this is probably the best move,” King said. “I figured, if I got an offer, and everything got approved, I’d accept it.”

The Rome Board of Education approved King on Tuesday, and Thursday he broke the news to the players at Valdosta.

“That’s the hard part about coaching,” King said. “At the end of the day, it’s a business, but I love these kids. I’ve only been here two years, but I’ve grown to love them.

“Obviously we had a great year this year. I love the staff members and everything. It’s just time now, so I can get somewhere and stay somewhere for awhile.”

Although he’s leaving his position with the Class 6A state champions, King will still get an opportunity to defend a state title. Rome finished last season 13-2 and Class 5A state champions.

The state title was the first in Rome’s school history, and the Wolves have continued to add to the school’s championship pedigree.

Fresh off winning his second state championship as the head basketball coach at Tift County, Dr. Eric Holland accepted a position as the principal of Rome High on Tuesday.

Now, King hopes to bring the knowledge learned on his own championship run a season ago to Wolves head football coach John Reid’s staff.

“I feel like I can maybe bring something I’ve learned down here from these great coaches and go up to Rome, Georgia and continue the tradition they have up there…” King said.

King aspires to one day land a job as a coordinator, so he hopes his move to Rome will help him continue to grow as a coach.

A long-time running back coach, and formerly a running back at Auburn, King will move to the other side of the ball at Rome and try his hand at coaching defensive backs.

“I look at that as a great opportunity, because I know running back, I’ve been doing running back all my life,” King said. “But I know to be a coordinator, I need to get outside of mindset of ‘only in the box,.’ I have to see route concepts and more of what the offensive coaches are thinking.

“So, me coaching outside the ball is a great opportunity for me. That’s something coach Grove talked to me about when I was there, and coach Reid, if coaches want to be a great coach and be a coordinator, you’re going to learn all this anyway. Everything on the field.”

Derrick Davis is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.