Kevin Kinsler, who won four region titles and one state championship in his 10 seasons as head football coach at Northside of Warner Robins, retired Thursday, though he did not rule out a return to the sidelines elsewhere if the right opportunity came along.
‘’I’ve prayed about it a lot, even after the end of last season, and it’s something that God has given me a peace about,’’ Kinsler told AJC.com. “I just feel it’s the right time as far as Northside is concerned.’’
Kinsler came to Northside, his alma mater, as an assistant in 1989 and succeeded his own high school coach, Conrad Nix, as head coach in 2010.
Northside won a Class AAAAA championship in 2014 and reached the AAAAAA final last season and lost to Lee County.
This season’s Northside team started the season 3-2 and earned Kinsler, 58, his 100th victory. But it would be his last win at his alma mater. The Eagles lost their final five games starting with a 39-0 loss to arch-rival Warner Robins and finishing with a 21-16 loss to county rival Houston County in a game that decided the final playoff berth out of Region 1-AAAAAA. Northside missed the playoffs for the first time since 1991.
Kinsler’s record as a head coach is 100-28, which ranks seventh in victories this decade for a Georgia coach.
‘’He replaced a legend [Conrad Nix] and had tremendous success, which is very rare to have happen,’’ Lee County coach Dean Fabrizio said. “Coach Kinsler’s teams were always well-prepared and played very hard, two hallmarks of a great coach.’’
Kinsler said he would remain at the school until the spring and plan the next stage of his career.
‘’I do think there’s something still out there,’’ Kinsler said. “I’m not ruling anything else out if certain opportunities come long. I just want to take a step back and catch my breath because I’ve been going non-stop for 36 years. I’m feeling excited about new possibilities but also melancholy when I think of the great memories I’ve had. I’ve had a wonderful career here.’’
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