Central High School football coach David Barger has resigned and will return to Lake County, where he began his head coaching career.
Barger had coached the Purple Pounders for three seasons, guiding them to the Class 4A playoffs last year, their first postseason appearance since 2003. Central had finished 2-8 each of the three years before Barger took over.
“I think he misses that small-town community atmosphere like he’s had before,” Central athletic director Brent Cooper said. “I know from talking with him that it was a tough decision to leave Central, but he felt like this was the right move for his family.”
Barger, 35, is a Bledsoe County graduate who was an assistant at Marion County for five years before taking over a Lake County program which had finished 0-10 the year before he arrived. In his four years with the Falcons, Barger took that program to the playoffs three times, compiling a 28-17 overall record.
Barger will replace Bert Snow who coached Lake County for only one season, finishing 7-5, before leaving to take the offensive coordinator’s job at Henry County. Barger’s wife Dawn will also take over as head boys’ basketball coach at Lake County, replacing Jimmy Whitby, who had coached the Falcons for nine years and guided them to the state sectionals twice. Dawn Barger is currently a teacher and assistant girls’ basketball coach at Ridgeland.