A Watson has coached Lady Dogs all but one year since 1983
Murphy – Lady Bulldogs volleyball coach Nikol Edwards has decided to step down after 14 years leading the program.
Since taking over in 2007, Murphy has gone 218-102, won five Smoky Mountain Conference titles and played in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A Western Regional final in 2011.
Besides coaching the Lady Bulldogs, Edwards is a physical education teacher and the athletic director at Murphy Middle School. She gave birth to a son, Jakob, last March. Since becoming a mom, juggling her roles at the middle and high school has become more of a challenge. While she’s stepping down from coaching volleyball, she’s keeping her roles at Murphy Middle School.
“I’m always going to love volleyball,” Edwards said. “I’m not just stepping down and saying I’m completely done. I’ve gotta be a momma right now, and I’ve got to have that time to take care of my kid.”
Edwards has been around Murphy volleyball her entire life. Her mom – Karen, a city council woman today – started the girls volleyball program in Murphy and was the head coach from 1983 to 2005.
Edwards remembers running around at practice as a kid before moving up to be the water girl, keeping the stats and then play under her mom. After attending college and returning to Murphy for student teaching, she helped out with the volleyball team as an assistant under head coach Tina Dockery before becoming head coach herself just a year later.
“I’ve been around it my entire life because I was with her,” Edwards said of her mom. “I came to practices with her and pretty much did everything. I’ve been around it for a really long time.”
Though she hated leaving her son to coach this year’s team, Edwards said she couldn’t leave this group of seniors behind. She taught them starting in kindergarten when she was still the physical education teacher at Murphy Elementary School, then again in eighth grade when she moved up to teach at the middle school.
In 2020, the Lady Bulldogs went 15-1 and captured the Smoky Mountain Conference championship for the fourth straight year before falling to Bishop McGuiness in the third round of the 1A state playoffs. Edwards was named Smoky Mountain Conference Coach of the Year, while senior Grace Nelson was named conference Player of the Year.
Edwards doesn’t want to step on the toes of the next coach, but hopes it’s someone who can help what she thinks is a talented group reach their full potential.
“The girls that I’m leaving behind, they’re special and it’s hard to leave them,” Edwards said. “I’ve got to be a momma, but those girls are like my kids. I’m very invested and want to make sure they’re taken care of.”