LAWRENCE — Bill Peebles has been hired as the new varsity football coach at Lawrence Central High School. Peebles built a successful football program at Southport High School over the past eleven years. Prior to his arrival, the Cardinals had gone nine years without winning more than three games in a season. After going 2-28 in his first three years, the program took a turn and has seen winning seasons the past eight years, including Sectional championships in 2013 and 2014. Peebles was 28-7 over the past three seasons at Southport and 62-56 overall.
Prior to his eleven years at Southport, he spent ten years at Cathedral where he worked his way from assistant to Offensive Coordinator. He was part of a staff that captured three state championships in 1996, 1998, & 1999.
Peebles is a Lawrence native, playing on Cathedral’s 1986 state championship team before going on to play at the University of Evansville where he was a four-year starting linebacker and team captain his senior year.
Jeff Irwin, Lawrence Central Athletics Director commented on the hiring of Coach Peebles; “We are very excited to have Coach Peebles as our head football coach. Coach Peebles has done a phenomenal job of building Southport’s football program and has a great understanding of Marion County and what it takes to build a winning culture in this area. Coach Peebles is a true professional, who will not only lead with integrity, but have high expectations both on and off the field for our student-athletes and will hold them accountable to those expectations. Former coach Jed Richman laid the groundwork over the last three years for Coach Peebles to be able to come in and hit the ground running, as a lot of systems have been put in place for success both on and off the field.”