Maryville honored former head coach George Quarles during a pregame ceremony in the Rebels’ Oct. 17, 2025, home game against Science Hill. (Photo Tanner Walker/5SP)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
After almost a decade away from the high school ranks, George Quarles is returning to them.
Webb School of Knoxville announced today that Quarles, who led Maryville High School to 11 state titles in 18 seasons, would be the next head football coach of the Spartans’ program.
Quarles spent 22 seasons at Maryville, the final 18 (1999-2016) as its head coach. After leading the Rebels to the state quarterfinals in 1999, Quarles and Maryville went on a significant run of success, appearing in 15 state titles games and winning TSSAA state championships in 2000-02, 2004-07, 2010-11 and 2013-14.
Maryville garnered national recognition when it reeled off 74 consecutive wins from 2004-08, the streak getting snapped by Hillsboro in the 2008 Class 4A state championship game.
His high school coaching record was 250-16 (.939), which is made even more astonishing given he started 10-7.
“In George Quarles, we have found an exemplary person and remarkable coach to lead Webb’s football program into the future,” say Dan Gill, Webb athletic director. “Known not only as one of the most successful high school coaches in the state of Tennessee, but also as a leader and mentor who cares deeply about the young men under his leadership, George brings with him a firm understanding of our mission – both the important traditions of our Spartan football program and the excellence of Webb as an institution.”
Quarles resigned from Maryville in December 2016 to take an assistant coaching position at his college alma mater, Furman.
Quarles recently served as tight ends coach at Austin-Peay, where he had been on staff since January 2024. He led the East Tennessee State football program as its head coach from 2022-23 after five seasons as an assistant at Furman.
At Webb, he will replace Don Mahoney. Webb and Mahoney parted ways after three seasons back in November.
The Spartans rank sixth, all-time, in TSSAA history with eight football state championships but haven’t won one since 2014 and haven’t played for one since 2016.
And that’s what Quarles is known for: winning state championships but doing so with class, honor and integrity. He left such a mark at Maryville, that the city announced at a pregame ceremony in October that it would be naming a street nearby the stadium George Quarles Way.
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