BREAKING: Starkville to Hire Ricky Woods as New Football Coach

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — A former Mississippi football coaching legend is coming home.

Ricky Woods is expected to be named the new head football coach at Starkville High School after board approval. Woods will replace Jamie Mitchell, who left the Yellowjackets to become the head football coach at North Little Rock High School in Arkansas.

Starkville Schools is hosting a special board meeting on Friday to approve the hiring of Woods. A press conference to announce the hiring of Woods and Starkville’s new athletic director will be on Tuesday.

Woods has spent the last two seasons coaching the Peabody Golden Tide in Trenton, Tennessee. This past year, he led the Tide to the Tennessee AA State Championship and a (13-2) overall record.

(Jackson Sun)
Ricky Woods will be the new head football coach of the Starkville Yellowjackets.

A former State Champion at Ackerman and South Panola, Woods is a veteran of high school football coaching. He has won six MHSAA State Championships during his time in Mississippi, two of which came at Ackerman High School.

He is most known for his five years coaching at South Panola, where he amassed a record of 74 wins and just 1 loss with 4 State Championships. He followed up his time at South Panola with a five year stint at Northwest Mississippi Community College.

Woods has spent the last two years coaching the Peabody Golden Tide in Trenton, Tennessee. He led Peabody to the 2014 AA Tennessee State Championship an

Woods got his start in coaching at Eupora High School. He spent seven years coaching the Ackerman Indians, where he won his other 2 State Championships in 1997 and 2001.

He will take over a Starkville High football program that finished last season 13-1 and was one win away from playing for a 6A State Championship.