Lanier High School athletics has been hit with not one but two head coach resignations this week. Head football coach Korey Mobbs and head girls basketball coach Tim Slater both put in their resignations this week as they each accepted jobs at other schools.
Mobbs has accepted the head football coaching position at Knoxville Catholic in Tennessee. Slater will be closer to his former job as he takes over the head girls basketball coaching position at Grayson.
Knoxville announced Mobbs as their new head coach on Wednesday and he bid farewell to his Lanier family on social media.
On Twitter, Mobbs said, “Words cannot express what Lanier High School means to me personally both as an educator and football coach. For 11 years, this has been home and with the utmost love and sincerity, I have poured every ounce of what I am into this program and community. I trust and pray that the countless players who have come through the program truly know my heart. I love each one of you and always will. Although I have agonized over this decision for many days, the time is now right for me to step aside to pursue a new opportunity for my family.
“With intense emotion and sadness, I will be moving on from Lanier High School. I have full confidence and trust in the administration at Lanier as they move forward and find a new voice for the program. As I often say, the program is much bigger than any one person and that includes myself. The football staff at Lanier is the absolute best and I 100 percent believe that greater things are ahead for the Longhorns.
“A simple thank you will never be enough, but from the bottom of my heart thank you players, parents, administration, faculty and community for giving me the honor to humbly serve as your head football coach. The best is yet to come for all Longhorns. As always, it’s a great day to be a Longhorn!”
Mobbs has been a part of the Lanier football program from the early days of the school as an assistant coach. He took over the head coaching position from Billy Wells before the 2014 season.
During his time at Lanier, Mobbs was 59-22 with the team’s most successful season coming in 2018 when the team made it to the semifinals. Lanier won the region title in 2014 and 2015 with 10-0 regular seasons.
Perhaps his most lasting legacy was the more than 70 players that went on to play in college during his tenure at Lanier. Derrick Brown, a defensive lineman who was an Auburn All-American, was the No. 7 overall draft pick and now plays for the Carolina Panthers.
Defensive Coordinator, David Willingham has been tapped as the interim head football coach at Lanier until a new head coach has been selected.
Coach Slater headed up the Lanier girls basketball program for the past three years. In 2019, his team won the State Championship title which is Lanier’s only State Championship title in the school’s history.
Before Slater came to Lanier, he had coached previously for Rome, Johnson-Gainesville, Buford and Robert Toombs.
Slater is filling the vacancy at Grayson left after previous head coach Robin Potter retired.
