Kings navigating unique player/coach, father/son as they enjoy final season on gridiron together
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By Stan Caldwell
Herald Correspondent
Coaching high school athletics is hard enough under any circumstances.
It’s even harder when the coach has their child on the roster. And when the child is also one of the star players, it just complicates things even more.
That’s the situation at Greene County High School this fall, as head football coach Michael King is both coach and father to his starting quarterback, senior Coby King.
“You never want to do anything to damage the father-son relationship,” said Michael King. “That’s first and foremost. But in coaching, it’s intense, and on Friday night, emotions run high.
“So you’re always toeing that line, trying to figure out where that line is to be able to motivate and coach your son to the best of your ability, while not doing anything to cause some resentment later on down the road, or something you have to ask for forgiveness later.”
This is the third season Coby has started at quarterback for his dad, and he has been productive in his previous two seasons as the starter, leading the Wildcats to the Class 4A playoffs both seasons.
“It took some getting used to at first,” said Coby. “But now, it’s my fourth year doing it, so I’ve pretty much gotten used to it. There’s nothing to it now.”
Coby King was starting on the football field, and mostly at quarterback, long before King became Coby’s coach.
“I had a couple of friends in the community back when I was at George County who had recruited him to play peewee football, and they put him at quarterback, without my request or anything like that,” said King.
“So, when I saw how he played, even as a little guy, I realized that this might be something he can do. He had a really good awareness, even at a young age, and he was intelligent with the where he went with the football.”
King coached the Wildcats from 2017-19, then spent a year on the staff at Pearl River Community College, then came back to GCHS as head coach in 2021.
Coby played quarterback as a sixth-grader at Leakesville Middle School, then reverted a receiver as a seventh-grader. But when King moved to Poplarville, Coby went back to quarterback as an eighth-grader for the Hornets.
“Being a pocket quarterback is not a natural thing to do,” said King. “It’s still a learned skill, and the biggest thing is a calm disposition, an even-keeled, don’t-get-rattled personality.
“So when we saw that he had that, I assumed that he would be calm in the pocket when the bullets start flying, so to speak. He was never really gun-shy. He was the scout-team quarterback his freshman year, and he got roughed up a bit, took some hits.”
Coby said that first year back at Greene County was a true introduction to the real world of high school football at a high level.
”The main thing I learned was how intense it was,” said Coby. “People think playing quarterback is just sitting back there throwing the ball, but that’s only about 15 percent of it.
“Playing the scout team taught me a lot, and I think it got me ready for the next year, when I was the starter.”
Coby’s first test under fire was at a jamboree contest at Columbia in 2022, against what was then the defending Class 4A state champion.
“On the bus over there, I’m pretty sure I threw up,” said Coby. “But it didn’t go too bad, and I think I got used to (the pressure) pretty quick.
“We had Vancleave the next week, and they had a bunch of people there, then George County, and a few thousand fans there. So, those first few games were pretty big games against some old rivals, and after that it wasn’t a problem.”
A watershed moment came in the Wildcats’ regular-season finale at Johnny Ainsworth Field against Pass Christian.
The Wildcats already had a playoff spot assured, but wanted the third spot, for which they needed to beat the Pirates by seven or more points. And Coby picked that night to throw four interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown.
“I try not to give them a way out if they make a mistake,” said King. “I want to come right back to that play as soon as possible to regain that confidence as quickly as we lost it. So he knows that if he makes mistakes, I’m not going to abort the mission and change the game plan.”
Good thing he didn’t. Coby shrugged off the picks and led Greene County to a decisive 33-17 victory, and he contributed by completing 21 of 28 passes for 238 yards and four touchdown passes.
“I acted like it didn’t bother me at the time, but it did,” said Coby. “I think I had, like, four picks the entire season coming into that game, and I doubled that in one game.
“Well, I knew they weren’t going to put anyone else in, so I knew it was up to me to figure it out somehow. There’s nothing like throwing that many picks and knowing you’ve got to go back out there and keep doing it.”
It is often said that the most popular player in the stands in the back-up quarterback, and when the starter makes mistakes, he hears it from the fans.
“People can be harsh, some fans can be cruel,” said King. “You hear all that stuff. But it helps in life. You know when you face adversity, do you tuck your tail and run the other direction, or do you pick yourself up and keep going forward.
At some point in their journey together, father and son developed a postgame ritual that has helped them process the just-completed game in a relaxed environment.
“Friday nights – or, rather, early Saturday morning – when our adrenaline is still flowing, we put the tape on the TV in the living room at home, and we go back through it,” said King. “Not so much as a classroom setting, but rather a reminiscing and enjoying that moment.
“We do talk about the game, because you can never fully separate the teaching aspect. But it’s more about just enjoying the camaraderie. You only get 10 or 11 of those a year, so it’s important to enjoy them in the moment, before moving on to the next game.”
For Coby, the Friday midnight movies help him see things he couldn’t see on the field, in the heat of the moment.
“During the game, you don’t see everything, obviously,” said Coby. “So, the first time you get to watch it back, you can look at a play and say, ‘here’s what I was thinking, here’s what I was looking for.’
“So, you get to go through the whole process before you go back and watch it was the team the next week.”
As he gets fully into his senior season, and the final one under his dad, Coby is still looking to improve his game, and isn’t looking past the 10 games on the Wildcats’ schedule, or any postseason contests after that.
“This might be it for me, if I don’t get an opportunity to play at the next level,” said Coby. “And that’s fine. I can’t do anything about that. I’m just trying to enjoy this last year.
“Turnovers are something I need to work on. I threw a few more picks last year. Of course, we were throwing it a lot more, but still, we’re going to be throwing it even more this year. So that’s something I have to be working on, making good decisions, and not turning it over.”
Greene County was just 4-7 last season, but finished third in Region 8-4A, qualifying for the playoffs with a 29-28 upset of Poplarville in the regular-season finale. The Wildcats then defeated Raymond 28-8 before falling to Columbia 49-20 in the second round.
“We’ve had some good times here, a couple of playoff appearances, and we’ve been to the second round,” said King. “This year, we’d like to get past the second round and make a little more noise.
“I think it’s four out six years that we’ve made the playoffs here that we’ve been put out in the second round, so we’d like to get past that. It would help if we could also finish first or second in the region, and get a home playoff game.”
Coby is one of 17 seniors on the Wildcat squad this season, and it’s a group King has coached all four years since he came back to GCHS.
“I’m really proud of the fact that there are that many kids in our program who have stuck it out these last four years,” said King. “This is the first time I’ve taken a group all the way from grades 9 through 12.
“I’m excited about the completeness of it, to focus on being here, and not looking for other opportunities. It hasn’t been without challenges, but we’ve had some success. I think we’ve grown as coach and player, and in our relationship as father and son.”
The Kings and the Wildcats are 1-1 on the campaign with a big, non-region test on Friday at home against Wayne County. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Johnny Ainsworth Field.
