Jerry Brown taking over Wade Hampton football program

Jerry Brown was done looking for his next coaching opportunity, but one phone call changed that.

Brown, who coached eight-man football at Northside Christian in Lexington last year, was called about the football coaching vacancy at Wade Hampton in Hampton County. Two weeks later, the longtime coach accepted the job and also will be the school’s athletics director.

Brown replaces Matt Fligg, who took a job at Social Circle High School in Georgia. Wade Hampton went 7-4 last season and lost in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.

“I was done applying for jobs. I was real happy at Northside Christian, and I loved my players,” Brown said. “But this is a good opportunity. It was tough to say goodbye to the players. They came a long way in that first year and are getting better.”

Brown went 3-6 during Northside’s first year of football. The school is transitioning to 11-man football. He informed his Northside players Thursday afternoon and will meet with his new team Friday.

Brown will start spring practice at Wade Hampton on May 15.

Being back in the public school ranks gives the 66-year-old a chance to win a state title at his fourth school. He won three titles at Berkeley, where he coached future NFL players Andre and Bruce Ellington. He also won a title at Spring Valley and Batesburg-Leesville.

Brown, who is 260-119 overall in 31 years of as a head coach, said going to Wade Hampton is similar to the small community when he was at Batesburg-Leesville.

“Being in a small town gives you a great platform; and if you win, it will help revitalize the whole town. It’s just a close-knit community,” Brown said. “We might not win a title, but we are going to give it a shot. And as long as I can keep influencing kids and coaching, I’m going to do it.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2017 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Jerry Brown taking over Wade Hampton football program."