Former Nashville athletic director and head football coach Mike Volarvich has accepted a new job with a Class 7A team.
The 7A state champion, to be more precise.
Volarvich is the new offensive coordinator for Fayetteville High School.
The Bulldogs went 13-0 last season, which included a 22-16 victory over Bentonville in the state championship game.
Volarvich was the Scrappers' head football coach for the past nine seasons. He compiled an 86-27 record, including a 15-0 Class 4A state championship during his first year with Nashville in 2015.
The Scrappers reached the state quarterfinals from 2918-20 and made it to the semifinals in 2022 before falling to eventual state champion Malvern.
Nashville finished third in 7-4A last season but lost a 59-50 shootout at Central Arkansas Christian in the second round of the playoffs to finish 8-4.
Shawn Jackson is now Nashville's head football coach. He moved from Hayti, Missouri, where his team went 1-8 in 2023. Jackson has a 66-61 record as a head coach.
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Injury limits former Atlanta standout Collins
Daimion Collins, a 6-foot-9 former Atlanta all-state basketball player, was limited to just six games this past season for the LSU Tigers.
Collins, 21, transferred from Kentucky for his junior year of playing in the Southeastern Conference.
However, Collins, who plays forward, dislocated his shoulder while playing North Florida on Nov. 24 game.
Ironically, Collins was enjoying one of his best games of the season when the injury happened. In 13 minutes he had 9 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
He tried to rehab his injury and didn't have surgery, but he couldn't get back in playing condition.
"I just wish Daimion would be healthy enough to play his best, so we can see how well he can play against the best in college," said Atlanta's Jarrod Boston, Collins' high school coach.
Collins finished this past season with an average of 4.3 points and 2.2 rebounds. He made 10-of-16 field goals (62.5 percent) and was 5-of-6 from free throw line. He scored in diuble figures in one game -- 11 points against Mississippi Valley.
In three college seasons (two at Kentucky) he has played in 58 games with two starts.
Collins was one of the best high school players in the Lone Star State for the Rabbs.
As a junior, he averaged 24.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 7.7 blocks per game.
During his senior year, Collins averaged 35.2 points, 14.4 rebounds, 7 assists and 6.2 blocks, earning Texas Gatorade Player of the Year and District 14-3A MVP honors.