Former East Jackson Comprehensive High School basketball coach David Boyd, 69, died earlier this week at his home on St. Simons Island of heart failure, according to the AJC.
Boyd won six state championships during his coaching career and was a member of the Hall of Fame.
While most of Boyd’s championships were at high schools in the Metro Atlanta area, he finished his career with two years at East Jackson from 2017-2019. While coaching the Eagles, he compiled a 35-23 record and took the teams to two state tournaments, including the teams’ first appearance in the Sweet 16.
While coaching at East Jackson, Boyd and his wife rented a home in nearby Athens to be close to their daughter, who was attending UGA at the time. After her graduation, the Boyd retired and he and his wife moved to their main home on St. Simons.
“Basically, it was pretty daunting to try to maintain two homes, just for me to coach,” Boyd told The Herald in 2019. He was retired from teaching at the time.
Boyd also endured health issues in his two years at East Jackson. He underwent defibrillator surgery in December 2019, which caused him to miss several games that month.
Boyd had previously coached at Campbell, Tucker, Berkmar, and Milton before taking the East Jackson position. He had previously worked for Jamie Dixon at Milton, who was principal at East Jackson in 2017.
Despite his multiple titles, Boyd ran into controversy during his career.
At Milton, the school self-reported “undue influence” for the large number of top-talented players who transferred into Milton under Boyd, according to the AJC. Milton school officials told Boyd he could no longer coach the team in 2012 and he resigned, but maintained his innocence and defended helping students transfer into the program.
Boyd also had a large number of talented players transfer to East Jackson during his stint at the school, like guards Drue Drinnon and Travis Anderson, among others. “I was very fortunate to coach a great player in Drue Drinnon, and this year Travis Anderson,” Boyd said in 2019.
Boyd had previously resigned in 2002 from Berkmar during a state ethics complaint investigation and resigned mid-season from a private Christian school in Cartersville before coming to East Jackson.
Boyd was also an English teacher with his most famous student being actress Julia Roberts, whom he taught while at Campbell High School.
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