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King will lead LCA football
Published February 1, 2008
LOGANVILLE – Change. Some welcome it and some will do anything in their power to avoid it. But, as a famous futurist said, “change is the process by which the future invades our lives.”
The folks over at Loganville Christian Academy are of the embracing-change variety and preparing for the future they have changed academic/athletic conferences, changed from eight-man to 11-man football and brought in a new head football coach.
Meet André O. King, new assistant athletic director for LCA and the man who will be the head football coach as the Lions make the move from their affiliation with the Independent Christians Schools of Georgia-Alabama to the Georgia Independent Schools Association.
“Because André played at the college and professional level, he can provide insights into the game that will be very helpful to us as we make the transition to GISA,” said athletic director Mark Davis.
“He’s already working part-time at the school and he is building rapport with the students,” Davis said. That will be a plus when he comes on board full-time next academic year.
King, 35, born in Kingston, Jamaica, moved with his family to Florida when he was 11 years old. An outstanding high school player, King was recruited by Tennessee, West Virginia, Miami and Michigan.
He signed a national letter of intent with Michigan but opted, instead, to pursue a Major League Baseball career when the Atlanta Braves drafted him in 1993.
King, who married his high school sweetheart and is the father of two, played with four different minor league clubs over a four-year period before retiring from baseball in 1997.
Almost immediately, King enrolled at the University of Miami (Florida) where, as a walk-on under head coach Butch Davis, he quickly earned a scholarship and was one of the top receivers on the team.
King was named to the All Big-East academic honor roll in three consecutive years and received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 2000 and a minor in Sports Management in 2001.
Upon graduation, the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League drafted King and he played, once again, under Butch Davis. When King’s professional playing days ended in 2005, he went into business and volunteered as a wide receivers coach at both the high school and collegiate levels.
King inherits a pigskin program at LCA that has already enjoyed a measure of success in eight-man competition, playing for the ICSGA title in their first year and making it to the first round of playoffs in their second season.
Despite those achievements, King says players are going to have to “learn to play all over again because of the enormous differences the three additional players make.”
When asked what kind of offense he plans to run, the first year head coach didn’t give-up much when he offered a cagey, cryptic reply, saying “we’re going to run and we’re going to pass.”
King promises the offense will be fast paced and he plans to get the ball into the hands of guys who can make plays.
“We already have athletes who can make big plays,” he said. “The guys at the ‘skills’ positions are outstanding.”
The energetic King has already assembled a coaching staff with some new faces and some familiar names from previous seasons. Doug Monda, Greg Snowden and Clay Merenuk are returning. Tommy Richardson, an LCA parent with 10 years coaching experience, is joining the staff, as is Kevin Gibson, who will handle scout team and offensive line duties.
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