Davis, Co-Lin make additions to football coaching staff
Published 9:00 am Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Copiah-Lincoln head football coach Glenn Davis will kick off his 20th season leading the Wolf Pack when the season opens on Sept. 7 with a home game in Wesson against East Mississippi C.C.
The 2023 coaching staff will have some new faces in year No. 20 for Davis as the school has recently made some new hires.
To fill the position of offensive line coach, Co-Lin brought on an alum in Jacob Fleming. Fleming has most recently been an assistant coach at Denham Springs High School in Louisiana.
As a player, Fleming prepped at North Pike and then was a two-year standout on the offensive line for Co-Lin as a left tackle from 2013-2014.
After Co-Lin, Fleming went on to play at the University of Southern Mississippi where he was a two-year letterwinner and part of a 2015 team that won the Conference USA West Division.
At Co-Lin, Fleming played under former o-line coach Robert McFarland. McFarland retired following last season, which freed up the spot for Fleming to come on staff.
“Jacob is a guy that I thought a lot of when he played here and we’ve always kept up since he decided to go into coaching,” said Davis. “Him having played for Coach McFarland in the past also helps with this transition when it comes to how we want our line to play.”
Another new face on the staff is wide receiver coach Michael Thompson.
Thompson was most recently an assistant coach at Southern Arkansas University. Thompson played wide receiver at Louisiana College where he graduated from in 2014. Among his coaching stops was a stint from 2017-2022 at New Orleans high school powerhouse Edna Karr.
Karr won four straight LHSAA titles from 2016-2019 and the football team, school and community are featured in the recently released Hulu docuseries titled, “Algiers, America.”
“I was looking for the best guy I could find, and Michael’s name was one that kept coming up,” said Davis. “He’d come through and got to know us a little when he was recruiting at Southern Arkansas, and he’s already got solid contacts in Louisiana.”
Thompson slides into a spot that was filled by former assistant coach Jason Guthrie. Guthrie is now selling insurance for Farm Bureau.
Glenn Davis, quarterback coach Micah Davis, Fleming and Thompson will make up the offensive staff for the Wolves.
Defensive coordinator Matt Gordon is back for his second season running that side of the ball for the Wolves. Gordon will have longtime CLCC assistant Maurice Johnson back as the defensive line coach along with second year defensive backs coach Darius Buck.
Johnson will get some help on the defensive line from a new volunteer assistant that has tons of NFL experience to draw on in former Mississippi State lineman Tommy Kelly.
Kelly was a standout defensive lineman at Provine High, Mississippi State and then went on to play 11 years in the NFL, nine of those with the Raiders.
When he was playing in Starkville, Kelly was part of teams that had Davis on the coaching staff.
The pair have kept in contact through the years.“Tommy is someone that I go way back with,” said Davis. “His football coach at Provine had me talking to Tommy when he was a junior in high school. He wanted me to tell him how good he’d be at football if he’d go out for the team, and he finally did as a senior. He went on to be one of the highest paid defensive linemen in the NFL during his best years. He’s someone that can really teach our kids a lot.”