The 2009 Palm Springs High School football team was one of the most recent from the Coachella Valley to win a CIF Southern Section title. That year, the Indians outscored four postseason opponents by an average score of 34.8 to 10 and shut out two of those opponents, including Kaiser in the semifinals.
Earlier this month, two stars from that team were hired as first-time head coaches in the valley.
Michael Karls, who was the Indians starting quarterback and a senior in 2009, was hired by Xavier Prep. Nick King, who was a sophomore two-way star that year, will be the new coach at Shadow Hills.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for both of them,” said Steve Fabian, who coached the Indians from 1999-2011. “I like to see schools take a chance on some of these young guys.”
Karls has coached as an offensive assistant at Xavier Prep since 2017. He was the Saints’ offensive coordinator from 2017-23 and quarterbacks coach and special teams coordinator from 2024-25. He replaces James Dockery, who resigned in November and has become the head coach at Indio.
King, who was previously an assistant coach at Palm Springs, takes over for David Palmer.
“They already have some good things going on here,” King said. “So, I just want to come in and help build on that.”
After helping the Indians to the 2009 CIF title, Karls was named the Desert Valley League offensive player of the year and to co-CIF Eastern Division offensive player of the year. He played collegiately for and later graduated from Midland University in Nebraska.
After Karls graduated, King helped lead the Indians to a DVL title in 2010, with fellow stars Nephi Garcia and Kyle Lass. King had his best season as a senior, in 2011, when he was an All-CIF selection and helped the Indians to a 13-1 season and another CIF title game appearance with Lass, Jordan White, Dane Tiedeman and Rodney Butler.
King, a three-sport star who also played baseball and basketball, chose to pursue baseball in college and began at Riverside City College before starting at second base for two years at the University of Georgia. He then played for three years in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization before earning a teaching credential and starting his coaching career.
Both Karls and King face the task of replacing coaches who made playoff appearances and won multiple games in the postseason. Xavier Prep was 6-4 last season and reached a CIF quarterfinal as recently as 2023.
“I’m really excited about the program I’ve inherited,” Karls said.
Shadow Hills was was 6-6 last season and reached a CIF quarterfinal each of the last two years. So, it’s not like the expectations for both programs are low.
But coaches who’ve been around Karls and King believe that they’re ready for the challenge.
What they say about Karls
Fabian, former head coach Dan Murphy (who was an assistant coach in 2009) and former star player Nephi Garcia shared that Karls loves the game, is a student of it and has a drive to elevate those around him in an effort to win.
According to them, Karls will bring a lot of knowledge with him to the role, a host of experience and an infectiously positive attitude. They believe Karls is a leader who under the spotlight will shine.
What they say about King
Fabian, Murphy and Garcia said that King will bring a youthfulness that will allow him to relate to players better than most coaches. He’ll be respected but also seen as a peer mentor, in some ways. Like Karls, King is smart and knows the game well and will be a major plus for Shadow Hills as someone who will develop the skills of the players in his program.
King, they say, is ultra-competitive but also brings a calm, mature demeanor that’ll help him not get too high or too low throughout the season.
What schemes they want to run
Offensively, King plans to run a pass-heavy, air raid kind of offense, similar to what Palm Springs ran last season. But formations, King said, will look different. Expect to see some 12 Personnel, with two tight ends.
King also wants to run the ball a bit more than Shadow Hills did last season, when the Knights averaged 17.5 carries per game.
Karls hopes to build a scheme around the strengths of his personnel. While at Xavier Prep, he ran a pro style offense around pocket passers and also ran read-option offenses around quarterbacks who had more of an ability to run.
Most importantly, Karls said, he wants to maintain a foundation at the school that has already been established.
“I really just want to be a beacon and a mentor,” Karls said. “I’m happy I can tell them, ‘I was once you. I’ve been there.’ I want to be able to show them how to be successful and build them up to be better young men, not just football players.”
Michael Karls
Nick King
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Pair of Palm Springs High grads hired to lead DEL football programs
Reporting by Andrew John, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
