RISON - Rison High School's search for a new head football coach ended Monday night when the Cleveland County School Board officially voted to hire Caleb Carmikle, formerly of Magnet Cove, to lead the Wildcat football program.
Carmikle, 29, has served as the head football coach at Magnet Cove for the past six seasons. He was also the athletic director and served as dean of students, working with grades 3 through 12.
He takes over for Coach Clay Totty, who resigned in December after spending 25 years guiding at Rison to become the head coach at Class 5A Wynne High School. Totty is the winningest football coach in Rison High School history.
Carmikle said Tuesday that he will be dropping in at Rison whenever he can during the month of February, but plans to be on campus full time in March.
Over his tenure at Magnet Cove, Carmile compiled an overall record of 39-30, which included playoff berths each year and three 5-2A conference championships (2017, 2019 and 2021). He was also named 5-2A Coach of the Year in each of the seasons his team won the conference title.
The Panthers moved up to the Class 3A ranks this past season, finishing 5-6 overall and fourth in the 4-3A Conference. Magnet Cove lost at Newport, 50-14, in the first round.
Carmikle's deepest playoff run with the Panthers run came in 2019 when Magnet Cove advanced to the Class 2A state quarterfinals before falling to Gurdon, 34-17. His 2021 season ended with a narrow 30-29 loss against Class 2A state finalist Fordyce.
His first job as a head coach came in 2015 at Glenbrook High School, a private school in Minden, La. Carmikle went 1-9 his first season before going 5-5 the following year, which was enough of a turnaround to earn the honor of being named the 2016 Webster Parish Coach of the Year by the Minden Press-Herald.
Prior to getting his first coaching job, Carmikle served as a volunteer assistant coach while earnin...
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