Newton County Schools names Carl Green as first-ever full-time district athletic director

By Gabriel Stovall

With close to 20 years experience as a Metro Atlanta high school athletic director, Carl Green becomes Newton County Schools’ first full-time district AD. | Submitted Photo

COVINGTON, Ga. — For the first time in the district’s history, Newton County Schools will have a full-time athletic director. And his name is Carl Green. 

The move was approved during the August 20, 2024 NCS Board of Education meeting, and Green is set to begin on Tuesday Sept. 3.

Green says his role will encompass oversight of both high school and middle school athletics, and give him a chance to check off the biggest item on his career goals bucket list. 

“Number one, it’s a dream of mine to become a district athletic director,” Green said. “I’ve been a school AD for the last 18 years. I’ve won accolades at the highest (Georgia High School Association) classifications and been named an athletic director of the year.” 

Green comes over from Sandy Creek High School in Fayette County where he served as assistant principal and athletic director for the Tyrone, Georgia school. He brings close to 20 years of decorated high school AD experience to his district role. 

A native of Miami, Florida and graduate of Creekside High School in Fairburn, Georgia, Green’s first stint as an athletic director came back in 2009 when he helped start Hapeville Charter Schools. 

He remained there through 2017 and oversaw an upstart athletic department that quickly became a major GHSA player, particularly in high school football. Hapeville Charter football coach Winston Gordon won a string of four region championships from 2016 through 2019, as well as a Class AA state crown in 2017 during the last year of Green’s watch. 

After that, he filled the athletic director spot at Westlake, overseeing several state and region championship teams during his six-year tenure before his most recent stop at Sandy Creek. 

His breadth of experiences — including piloting new athletic departments at start-up schools — made him an ideal candidate in an unprecedented role for Newton County. 

“I’ve been to places like Hapeville Charter what are brand new, and I’m the first (athletic director) they’ve had, and I’ve been to places where things are already set in place and established,” Green said. “I teach legal duties classes with the Georgia Athletic Directors Association. I’ve been to the national conferences and built connections there, and it just led me to say it was time for me to be a district AD.” 

Broadening his horizons

When the NCS opportunity opened up, and Green discovered he, if hired, would be the first for the county, it stoked an extra bit of enthusiasm in him. 

“It gives me the chance to truly make an impact and give school ADs a rubric to follow that can help their schools be the best they can be athletically,” Green said. “And with me being the first here, I can really have a hand in shaping how things happen.” 

Among the first things Green wants to do when his tenure at NCS begins on Sept. 3 is start creating the scaffolding around his blueprint for building the kind of district he believes Newton can become, athletically. 

“Number one, it’s about putting systems and processes in place,” Green said. “I’m really excited to make a mark there. At the school level as an AD, things are pretty much already in place, and the impact you can make beyond that is not that great. Here, I can give our ADs a road map to follow — system processes, a one-pager, so to speak, on how to create solid athletics departments across the district.” 

A big part of that for Green is shoring up the branding of NCS high schools’ athletic departments. Green envisions a more uniform approach to branding that doesn’t take away from each school’s creativity, but at the same time, provides NCS athletic departments an identifiable marker. 

“I see some of our schools have branded themselves, and I want to make sure we’re doing even more of that because I really want us to be pubbing our kids,” he said. “People know about Newton. But I don’t think people know enough about Newton. I want us to create a brand with our schools that, when you come off the bus, or when schools come to us to play, they’ll know it’s a Newton County School. And that’s regardless of whether you’re Eastside, Alcovy or Newton.” 

He mentioned creating branding that’s “consistent” and “creates a standard of what it should look like to see a Newton County School coming.” 

“There are also visions I have where we’re maybe striking a school branding deal with particular dealers that make us stand out,” he added. 

Newton’s ‘attractive’ profile sold Green

Being the first to fill a first-of-its-kind position isn’t the only thing that got Green’s blood pumping. Green says his affinity for the outdoors — particularly hunting and fishing — allowed him to come with prior familiarity of Newton County’s terrain. 

But when you start talking about the area’s rapid growth and expansion and things like the E-splost deal that voters passed in May that approves funding each NCS high school to have its own football stadium with a tentative project completion date of February 2026, it all just sweetens the pot. 

“That definitely makes it more attractive,” Green said. “I can be in the plan-making and decision-making processes for layouts of those stadiums and how the expansions and things we build can benefit our schools. The growth in Newton County is just phenomenal. And as a school-level AD who’s competed against Newton County schools before, I know things are already pretty good. Now, I’m excited because our athletes will really get the best things that can be provided for them.

“Having every thing we need for our school and district, like state-of-the-art facilities, is important. When our neighbor [schools] have it, we should be able to have it.” 

Ultimately, for Green, it isn’t about a rapid accumulation of bells and whistles, nor adding another layer to an already-impressive resume. 

Green’s biggest aspiration is having a direct impact on the lives and futures of students. 

“Twenty years ago, I was a school assistant and I had plans on going to law school, but that got derailed,” he said. “From there, I got into education, started coaching and teaching. I’ve probably done everything in a school building besides being a principal or custodian you can. I had humble beginnings, and my perseverance has gotten me here. That’s something I want to be able to instill in these kids. I have a story to tell to them for anyone who’s willing to listen.” 

And Green’s definitely going to be on a scavenger hunt for kids who’ll want to hear his heart — especially since his heart has always been about them. 

“That’s one thing I’m going to miss about being an AD at the school level,” he said. “Interacting with the kids. Being around them one on one. So, in this role, I still want to interact with them, whether it’s while stopping by one of our buildings to talk to a school AD or stopping by a game on a Friday night. Everything I do in this role really is all about the kids.”