COACHING STAFF
COACHING STAFF
RICHARD MORGAN
HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
With Marietta since 2016.
Coach Morgan is entering his 7th season as the Head Coach of the Marietta Blue Devils. His ongoing mission at Marietta continues to be developing young men of character and integrity within a culture of greatness. In 2019, Coach Morgan led the Marietta Blue Devils to the Georgia 7A State Championship, which happened to be Marietta’s first state championship in 52 years. Marietta finished…
RICHARD MORGAN | Head Football Coach
Coach Morgan is entering his 7th season as the Head Coach of the Marietta Blue Devils. His ongoing mission at Marietta continues to be developing young men of character and integrity within a culture of greatness. In 2019, Coach Morgan led the Marietta Blue Devils to the Georgia 7A State Championship, which happened to be Marietta’s first state championship in 52 years. Marietta finished 2019 with a record of 14 – 2 and beat the previously undefeated and #1 ranked Lowndes Vikings 17-9 in the state championship game at Georgia State University. In addition, the Blue Devils defeated St. Josephs, the #4 ranked team in the country and the Pennsylvania State Champions on ESPN in September. They also defeated the Washington State Champions, Eastside Catholic, in the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series in Las Vegas 53-14 also on ESPN. The Blue Devils finished 2019 as the # 7 ranked football team in the United States. 17 players signed college scholarships, 7 players were named All State and 5 were named All Americans. The Blue Devils also set more than 30 school records along the way.
Coach Morgan was named the 2019 Georgia State Coach of the Year, the GACA State Coach of the Year, the Cobb County Coach of the Year and the Atlanta Touchdown Club State Coach of the Year. Coach Morgan won his 200th career game last season as the Blue Devils defeated Milton 38-28 in the second round of the state playoffs. In 21 years as a head coach, Coach Morgan has compiled a record of 204 wins and 53 losses. Coach Morgan’s teams have won 3 State Championships and have been the State Runner up on 2 other occasions. In addition he has led his teams to 8 Final Fours, 14 Elite Eight’s and 17 state playoff appearances. Coach Morgan is also the only coach in America to have coached 2 Gatorade National Football Players of the Year. His teams have played in 8 ESPN Nationally Televised games and 133 of his former players have received college scholarships. Coach Morgan has been named District, Region and State Coach of the Year on numerous occasions and he has been selected as an All American Game Coach 4 times.
Coach Morgan came to Marietta after serving 14 years as the Head Football Coach of the nationally ranked Oscar Smith Tigers from Chesapeake, Virginia. During his tenure, Oscar Smith was the winningest 6A program in the state of Virginia and had an 82 game District winning streak. Coach Morgan, and his incredible wife Marie, have been married for 21 years. Marie is a counselor at Marietta High School. The Morgan’s have 4 wonderful children: Breanna (18), Alexis (17), Luke (15) and Shawn (13). Breanna is a Marietta graduate who finished in the top 4% of her class. She is currently a freshman on scholarship at the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs). Alexis is an IB student at Marietta HS with a 4.5 GPA and is the captain of the Girls Varsity Soccer team. Luke is a freshman in advanced classes at Marietta High School and a member of the Marietta football team. Shawn is an Advanced Level student at Marietta Middle School who plays football for the Marietta 8th grade team. Coach Morgan is honored to serve as the Head Football Coach and the Director of Football for the best community in all of Georgia.
LABRONE MITCHELL
WIDE RECEIVERS
With Marietta since 2003.
TOM GUCKIAN
KICKERS AND PUNTERS
With Marietta since 2016.
TROY DUKE
WIDE RECEIVERS / JV HEAD COACH
With Marietta since 2016.
ZACK SHELTON
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
With Marietta since 2015.
MICHAEL BROWN
OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS
With Marietta since 2020.
ROBERT HOLMAN
OFFENSIVE LINE
With Marietta since 2020.
WILL CAUTHORN
FRESHMAN HEAD COACH
With Marietta since 2011.
JOEY BRUNET
FRESHMAN ASST. COACH
With Marietta since 2020.
MARIETTA SPORTS
MEDICINE
MARIETTA SPORTS MEDICINE
SPORTS MEDICINE STAFF
SPORTS MEDICINE STAFF
JEFF HOPP, LAT, ATC
HEAD ATHLETIC TRAINER
With Marietta since 2002.
Jeff Hopp is in his 21st year as the Blue Devils’ Head Athletic Trainer. Along with caring for the MCS athletes, he also supervises the student athletic trainer program, giving MHS students the opportunity to get hands on sports medicine experience.
JEFF HOPP, LAT, ATC | Head Athletic Trainer
Jeff Hopp is in his 21st year as the Blue Devils’ Head Athletic Trainer. Along with caring for the MCS athletes, he also supervises the student athletic trainer program, giving MHS students the opportunity to get hands on sports medicine experience.
Prior to joining the Blue Devils medical staff he spent almost 7 years providing outreach athletic training coverage to several Cobb and Cherokee county schools for Resurgens Orthopaedics. He was the Head Athletic Trainer for the Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europe from 1995 to 1997 after working with the Minnesota Vikings in 1994 as an Assistant Athletic Trainer. Along with his full-time duties, he was part of the medical staff for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games and served as the medical coordinator for the 2007 US National Paralympic Track and Field Championships.
He has traveled with numerous US National Team Handball teams to various international tournaments including the World Championships in Besancon, France in 2001. In 2008, he ventured into the world of small business ownership with the inception of Sports Performance and Athletic Training Services, LLC. He has served as president, vice president, treasurer, and secondary schools’ representative for the Georgia Athletic Trainers Association. He is currently serving as the vice president for the Southeast Athletic Trainers Association, PR Chairman for the Georgia Athletic Trainers Association, and is a member of the Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory Traumatic Brain Injury Task Force.
He was a founding member and later chairman of the Georgia Concussion Coalition and was instrumental in passing the GA Return to Play Act in 2013. As a member of the GHSA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee he has helped develop the GHSA heat guidelines, the GHSA pitch count rules for baseball, and many other policies. Jeff serves as a clinical instructor for Life University’s graduate athletic training program and is on the advisory board for St. Augustine’s graduate athletic training program. In 2016 he was awarded the Athletic Trainer Service Award by the National Athletic Trainers Association.
He is a graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato (BS – Athletic Training) where he met his wife Julie, an AP environmental science teacher and science department chair at North Cobb High School. They have been married for 24 years.
ERIKA DAVIS, MS, LAT, ATC
ATHLETIC TRAINER + HEALTHCARE TEACHER
With Marietta since 2018.
Erika Davis joined the Marietta High School Sports Medicine staff in July 2018. Along with her duties as an assistant athletic trainer, Erika is also a Healthcare Science teacher.
ERIKA DAVIS, MS, LAT, ATC | Athletic Trainer + Healthcare Teacher
Erika Davis joined the Marietta High School Sports Medicine staff in July 2018. Along with her duties as an assistant athletic trainer, Erika is also a Healthcare Science teacher.
Prior to joining the Blue Devil medical staff Erika spent 5 years providing medical care to various NCAA Division I universities. The most recent being a short stint with Georgia State University Football. She previously worked as assistant athletic trainer for University of Richmond, in Virginia, where she was responsible for women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse. In 2016, Erika earned her Master of Science degree in Kinesiology from Temple University. While in Philadelphia, Erika worked with Temple University’s women’s soccer team as a graduate assistant athletic trainer. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Training from West Chester University in 2013. As an athletic training student at WCU she worked with West Chester’s women’s gymnastics team, as well as Ursinus College men’s lacrosse team. She spent a year as a certified athletic training intern at University of Richmond (’13-’14) while working with football, baseball and women’s soccer teams.
Erika is certified with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Certification and is licensed to practice as an athletic trainer in the state of Georgia. A native of Landenberg, Pennsylvania, Erika currently resides in Acworth, GA with her husband Josh and their dog Wrigley.
EMILY RIVERA, MS, LAT, ATC
ATHLETIC TRAINER
With Marietta since 2022
Emily joins Marietta from Texas, where she has been an athletic trainer for the last 6 years. Emily played basketball in college while she attended Sterling College.
EMILY RIVERA, MS, LAT, ATC | Athletic Trainer
Emily joins Marietta from Texas, where she has been an athletic trainer for the last 6 years. Emily played basketball while she attended Sterling College.
After her bachelors, she went on to be a Graduate Assistant at Lamar University where she worked with football, track and field, and women’s tennis. After completing her graduate assistantship and graduating with her Masters, she became the Head Athletic Trainer at Hardin Jefferson Independent School District. She worked there for 2 years before returning home and working as an athletic trainer at Northwest High School.
Emily is certified with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Certification and is licensed to practice as an athletic trainer in the states of Texas and Georgia. A native from Forth Worth, Texas, she currently resides in Atlanta with her significant other and her dog Beau.
ALLI BIRD, MS, LAT, ATC
ATHLETIC TRAINER + HEALTHCARE TEACHER
With Marietta since 2022.
Alli Bird joined Marietta City Schools Sports Medicine staff in July of 2022. Along with being an athletic trainer, Alli also teaches the Health Science Pathway in the CTAE department at Marietta High School.
ALLI BIRD | Athletic Trainer + Healthcare Teacher
Alli Bird joined Marietta City Schools Sports Medicine staff in July of 2022. Along with being an athletic trainer, Alli also teaches the Health Science Pathway in the CTAE department at Marietta High School.
Prior to joining the Marietta medical staff Alli provided medical care to three different high schools ranging from 1-A to 7-A programs. The most recent being a 4 year stay at North Myrtle Beach High School, where she worked 2 years as a full-time athletic trainer before transitioning into the classroom full-time while continuing her athletic trainer duties part-time. She previously worked as the head athletic trainer for Green Sea Floyds Middle and High School for 3 years before transitioning to NMBHS.
She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Training from Slippery Rock University in 2013. AS an athletic training student at SRU she worked with Slippery Rock’s men’s soccer team, men’s and women’s track and field team, women’s basketball team, and Slippery Rock High School. While attending SRU, Alli was a member of the women’s soccer team her first 2 years of attendance before focusing solely on her studies.
In the spring of 2018 Alle received her Masters degree with a concentration in Advanced Athletic Training from the University of South Florida. Alli is certified with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Certification and is licensed to practice as an athletic trainer in Georgia. A native of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in the Pocono Mountains for the other “office” as out there, she currently resides with her 2 dogs, Gracie Lou and Oakley Mae.