Avery County native Mike Lunsford is hanging up the whistle after a nearly four-decade coaching career marked by consistent success.
Lunsford announced his intention to retire as Cloudland, Tennessee High School’s head football and also as its girls’ head basketball coach. He informed both teams of his decision this week.
Lunsford, who lives in Elk Park, is best known for coaching football. He was the longest tenured high school head football coach in the Elizabethton and Johnson City regions of Tennessee at the time of his resignation. He was a head football coach for 25 years, including two tenures for a total of eighteen years at Cloudland High in Roan Mountain, and seven years at Hampton
He also was an assistant at Avery County High in Newland in 2004, specifically as offensive coordinator.