By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

KILN — The new month of February opened with five prep head football coaching openings in the “Southern Six”.

For the third time this week, one of that quintet of programs has identified its new leader.

Hancock High has convinced Mikey King to leave his post as head coach at Greene County to take over at the helm of the Hawks.

SouthMiss6 Sports was the first media outlet to break the news of Hancock’s interest in King last week, after King was eliminated from contention for the same post at his alma mater George County.

Officials at Hancock High announced the hiring late Thursday afternoon with this post on social media:

“Hancock High School would like to welcome Coach Michael King!

Coach King has 20 years of experience in education and coaching, including 17 years at Greene County and three at George County. He served as the head football coach at Greene County for seven seasons, leading the team to six playoff appearances, a 49-30 record, and district championships in 2019 and 2024. King holds a bachelor’s degree from Belhaven University and a master’s degree from William Carey University. He is currently pursuing a specialist degree in educational leadership at William Carey University. He and his wife, Danielle, have three children: Madison (20), Coby (18), and Malorie (15).”

King left Leakesville for one season to become the offensive coordinator on head coach Seth Smith’s first squad at Pearl River Community College before returning to Greene County the following year.

This past season, thanks in large part to his son and senior quarterback Coby, King guided Greene County to one of its best seasons in a while as the Wildcats went 8-1 in the regular season and won the Region 8-4A title. However, home-standing Greene County got upset in stunning fashion in the first round of the state playoffs falling to Region 5-5A fourth seed Quitman 34-28.

Coby King was named “Class 4A Mr. Football” in the state.

King replaces Neil Lollar at the helm of the Hawks, after Lollar stepped down just after the end of last season.

Lollar had just finished his eighth season at the helm of the Hawks. Hancock finished 3-9 overall including a 48-14 loss to home-standing Hattiesburg in the opening round of the Class 6A South State playoffs after the Hawks finished as the fourth seed in Region 4-6A for the second straight season.

The latest trip to the postseason marked the fourth overall for HHS during Lollar’s tenure and their third straight trip. He ended up 42-49 overall including 1-4 in the state playoffs that included perhaps the biggest football win in school history over the past four decades in a 30-27 win over perennial state power Brandon in Lollar’s first year in the Kiln in 2017 to open the Class 6A South State playoffs that season.

Before his arrival as head coach at Hancock, the Hawks had qualified for the playoffs just five other times in the first 31 years of a state-wide playoff system. Lollar and legendary Hawks mentor Irvin Favre are the only HHS football head coaches to ever win a playoff game in the history of the program.