George Quarles, one of the most successful high school head football coaches in the country prior to returning to Furman in December of 2016, recently completed his second season as associate head coach and first as offensive coordinator and coach of the program’s quarterbacks.
In his first campaign under head coach Clay Hendrix he coached the squad’s tight ends, including All-SoCon and NCAA Post-Graduate scholar performer Andy Schumpert, who caught 32 passes for 652 yards and nine touchdowns in the Paladins’ 8-5 campaign that netted a FCS playoff appearance.
In 2018 he took over as quarterbacks coach and oversaw the work of Harris Roberts, who battled back from a preseason injury and limited play in the early going to engineer Furman to a 5-1 stretch run, highlighted by a 34-14 pasting of Wofford.  Harris threw five touchdowns in the Paladins’ 35-30, SoCon title clinching victory over Mercer and finished the campaign atop the SoCon in passing efficiency with a school record 182.6 rating.
This past season Quarles’ offensive unit averaged a league leading 33.5 points per game, which helped key Furman to an 8-5 campaign, FCS Playoff appearance, and AFCA No. 19 final national ranking.  The Paladins placed seven players on the league all-conference team, including a SoCon best four selections to the all-freshman squad.
He was inducted into both the Tennessee Football Coaches and Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Halls of Fame in 2018.
Quarles, a 1989 Furman graduate and starting wide receiver on the Paladins’ 1988 NCAA FCS (I-AA) National Championship team, spent 22 years at Maryville (Tenn.) High School, including the final 18 as head coach, during which time he recorded a stupendous coaching record of 250-16 (.939), making him one of the most successful prep coaches in the United States.  The fastest coach in U.S. high school football history to register 200 wins, he guided Maryville to 11 state championships, including the last four in TSSAA Class 6A, and 15 state title game appearances, and won at least 10 games every season there.
During his remarkable run at Maryville, Quarles coached the Rebels to a nation’s-best 74 consecutive wins during one stretch that included four consecutive state championships.  After taking over the Maryville program in 1999, he went 10-7 in his first 17 games, which he followed with a mark of 240-9 (.964).  He was the winningest high school coach in America over the 10-year period (2007-16).
A seven-time state coach of the year selection, he was named Tennessee Titans Coach of the Year in 2005 and PrepXtra Coach of the Year in 2005 and ‘13.
In 2010 he coached the East Team in the prestigious Army All-American Bowl, an elite all-star game for the top senior football players in the country, after serving as offensive coordinator in the event in 2008.
Prior to stepping into Maryville’s head coaching shoes in 1999, he served as an assistant on the Rebels’ staff for four seasons (1995-98), handling offensive coordinator duties and coaching the program’s quarterbacks and defensive backs.
He held those same duties over three seasons (1992-94) as an assistant coach at Greenville’s Eastside High School after beginning his full-time coaching career at Cedar Shoals (Ga.) High School in 1991.
Quarles served as a graduate assistant at Furman for the 1989 and ‘90 seasons — both Southern Conference Championship campaigns for the Paladins.  In that role he worked with the defensive backs and coordinated the scout team offense.
He earned two letters during his playing career at Furman.  The Jefferson County, Tenn., native led Furman with 18 receptions for 295 yards as a senior in 1988, helping the Paladins go 13-2, win the SoCon championship, and claim the NCAA FCS (I-AA) national title — made possible by his 42-yard touchdown reception in Furman’s 13-9, semifinal playoff victory over Marshall in Huntington, W.Va.
In 1985, his freshman year at Furman, the Paladins went 12-2, won the SoCon title, and went on to register a national runner-up finish.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Furman in 1989 and later secured a Master’s of Education degree in administration and supervision from Lincoln Memorial University.
He and his wife, Leslie, have two sons: Jack and Beau.
