The Covington County BOE on Tuesday approved the hire of Jarrod Wooten as the new defensive coordinator for the Straughn High School football team.

“He is actually a good friend of mine,” new SHS head coach John Higgins said. “We are really excited for him to be coming to Straughn and I’m confident that he is going to be a great fit for our school.”

Higgins said that Wooten was a nice addition for his teaching also.

“He is a very good teacher and he taught AP History at Beulah,” Higgins said. “Hiring someone that is not only a great coach, but also a great teach is extremely important because education comes first.”

Wooten comes to Straughn after spending the past five years as the head coach of Beulah High School.

“He wanted to come to a good program even if that meant taking a pay cut and going as a coordinator,” Higgins said. “He has been a head coach for the past nine years, so he has a very thorough knowledge of all aspects of the game. We don’t know what we are going to do defensively at this point. He has run all the more common defenses and we will decide which one of them best fits our personnel.”