Tupelo’s Keith to Succeed Austin at Mooreville

MOOREVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — A former Trooper will be leading the Mooreville High football team in 2016.

Via release from Mooreville and Tupelo High Schools, John Keith has been named the new head football coach of the Mooreville Troopers.

Keith has spent the last three seasons as offensive coordinator under Trent Hammond at Tupelo. The Golden Wave made the playoffs in each of the three years with Keith controlling the offense and made it to the Class 6A State Championship game in his first year with the Golden Wave.

Keith succeeds Kevin Austin, who decided to step down following nine seasons as head coach of the Mooreville High football team.

Austin departs Mooreville as the school’s winningest head coach in program history. The Troopers made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons under Austin, something that had never been done in school history. Prior to Austin’s arrival, Mooreville had made the playoffs just three times ever.

Keith, a 1997 graduate of Mooreville, has also had coaching stops at Amory, Shannon and Southaven.

“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to be the head football coach for the Troopers,” Keith told Tupelo sports information director Braden Bisnop. “It is a chance for me to return home and hopefully give back to the community that helped me become the person I am today.”