Signal Mountain didn't have to go far to find the next head coach for its high school football program.
Mark Mariakis, who joined the faculty as a teacher in September but was not on the football staff this past season, is the new leader for the Eagles. Signal Mountain announced Thursday that it had named Mariakis head coach.
“When the coach opening came about for us, we were very thorough and cast a wide net for candidates, but it just so happened the best choice was already here,” said Michael Carson, the school’s principal. “A lot of it came down to the leadership component that we see in Coach Mariakis, how his process will benefit our students and our school and community.
“It’s clear he had a vision for what he wants to accomplish, and success comes with it once that’s in place. We’re very excited for that.”
Mariakis, who was most recently an assistant at Boyd Buchanan from 2022 through the first five games of the 2023 season, has a history of building successful programs in the Chattanooga area. As the head coach at Chattanooga Christian School from 2015-21, he helped turn the Chargers into perennial playoff qualifiers. After seven seasons, he stepped away to spend more time as the primary caregiver for his elderly mother, who died this past August.
“Once I got into the process of talking with the other school leaders, I realized we all had the same mindset on dealing with young men, which got me very excited about the possibilities here,” said Mariakis, who has been named the area’s prep football coach of the year three times by the Times Free Press. “We were just on the same page, which is a really big deal when you’re building a program.
“During the interview, I made it clear I want to win more than anybody, but the scoreboard won’t make the final decisions in our program. The main thing is that the student-athletes feel valued. We’re more concerned with the people those kids will become than stats.”
Mariakis takes over for Josh Roberts, who stepped down in mid-November after seven seasons as head coach. During Roberts’ tenure, the Eagles reached the playoffs five times, but they missed the postseason last year and this year, when injuries and close losses — seven of their 14 defeat came by eight points or less, including four by five points or less during the 2022 season — added up.
“I love the football aspect, but what gets me up in the morning is creating a team and leading people and building a program,” Mariakis said. “That’s what got me so excited about Signal Mountain. We have a chance to build something and bring people together to make this place special.”
Prior to working at CCS, Mariakis led Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe to its first playoff appearance in 1998 and later built Ridgeland into one of northwest Georgia’s most successful programs, winning at least seven games in eight of his 11 years there.
He guided the Panthers to their first region title — they would go on to win three more under Mariakis — and the 2012 team finished as state runner-up in GHSA Class AAAA. He was named coach of the year that season by The Associated Press, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association.
When Mariakis took over at Ridgeland, there were just 17 players on the roster, but by the time he left, the Panthers routinely had 100-plus in their program. They also had 31 players who signed athletic scholarships with college programs during his tenure, and he helped coordinate an academic plan within the football team that helped raise the graduation rate of Black students from 34.8% to 79.2% in a four-year period.
After just one season as the defensive coordinator at CCS, Mariakis took over as head coach in 2015. Under his direction, the Chargers — who began playing in 2009 — showed impressive growth as the roster increased from 34 to 65 players and the number of assistants doubled from five to 10.
He also oversaw the transition from competing in the TSSAA’s public school classification to the more challenging Division II-AA in 2016. CCS reached the playoffs in six of seven seasons with Mariakis as head coach, twice reaching the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual state champion.
The Chargers also had several program milestones under Mariakis, including their first eight-win season, their first home playoff game and their first postseason win.
In a career that has spanned 37 years, Mariakis has a 122-112 overall record as a head coach. Two of his former players went on to NFL careers.
“What stands out about Mark is that, even as much as he’s accomplished, he’s a better person than he is a football coach,” Signal Mountain athletic director Brian Beasley said. “Just his presence will make an impact, no doubt.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com.