LA’s Kirk leaving football post, Bell to take helm

Laurens Academy Headmaster Todd Kirk, left, and new LA head football coach Stacy Bell.

The head coach and driving force behind Laurens Academy’s football program is stepping down, the school announced in an email Thursday afternoon.

Kirk, who is also LA’s headmaster, is stepping down to devote more time to his job atop the school’s administration. He will also take over as head coach of LA’s middle school team.

“The duties of being headmaster as well as the head varsity football coach requires a great deal of time,” Plowden wrote in the email. “The current growth requires (Kirk) to spend more time focusing on being headmaster. Coach Kirk still wants to have a role in football but it will be in a more limited capacity.”

In the same email, LA Athletic Director Travis Plowden said the school has hired former Heathwood Hall defensive coordinator Stacy Bell as the new head coach of LA’s S.C. Independent Schools Association (SCISA) 8-man football team. Bell has also been head coach at Northside Christian and defensive coordinator at Brookland-Cayce.

Bell is to be introduced to LA supporters and students at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the school.