By John Henson

Sports Writer

Describing it as something of a homecoming, Arthur Carter was introduced earlier this week as the new football coach at Pineville High School.
A former standout lineman at Bell County who played on the Bobcats’ 1991 state championship team, Carter has coached for 22 years and returns to the area to replace Allen Harris, who stepped down after the season ended in November.
Carter coached the past three seasons at Marion County after 11 years in Florida. He played at Union College after graduating from Bell County in 1994. He began his coaching career in 1999 and was an assistant on Bell’s state championship team in 2008. He was the head coach of the fledgling Jackson County program before heading to Florida.
After posting a 7-4 record in Harris’ first season of 2021, the Lions dipped to 2-9 in 2023 and were 1-9 last season.
Carter was recently selected to take over the program.
“Marrying my high school sweetheart and accepting this position sure feels like a homecoming — being back in the county that I love and was raised in,” he said. “We were absolutely thrilled to be here and absolutely honored that I was chosen. There has been nothing but positivity and exciting vibes since I accepted the job. I honestly feel really good about the job,” he said.
“Coach Carter is a guy that does his homework. He prepares by doing the necessary work to be successful. He’s also a man of high character. Every person I’ve spoken to about coach Carter has talked about his strong faith, his devotion to developing young people and his work ethic,” said Pineville High School Principal Dr. Jarryd Boster. “People reached out to us from throughout our community to make sure we knew the caliber of coach and man we were dealing with. Coach Carter is already hard at work for our students and community. All of us are extremely excited to welcome Arthur and Shaunnah Carter to our Pineville Mountain Lion family.”
Carter knows he has a lot of work ahead of him in making the Lions a district contender.
“We have to get in the weight room as soon as possible and set a foundation for moving forward,” he said, “but it’s also a foundation that I’m excited to work at with our young men.”