Holland to coach football at Pelion

Dann Holland will succeed longtime Pelion athletics director and football coach Ben Freeman, Lexington County School District One announced on Wednesday.

The district’s Board of Trustees approved Holland’s hire at its meeting on Tuesday.

Holland is football coach and assistant athletics director at Hunter-Kinard-Tyler, where he led the Trojans to two Class A Division 2 championships and a 32-9 record in three seasons.

“He’s going to be very engaging, he’s going to be an excellent role model for our kids and focused on producing quality graduates here at Pelion,” principal Clark Cooper said.

“It’s an exciting time for us and for my family, and it’s a good deal because we think we can win there,” said Holland, a Newberry native. “I’ve always worked closely with the ADs where I’ve been, and that was the direction I wanted to move in. Pelion opened up and things moved fast, and we’re excited about it.”

Holland began his teaching and coaching career 15 years ago as a junior economics and government teacher and offensive and defensive line coach at Orangeburg Prep. He later served there as offensive coordinator, and in 2008 moved to Summerville’s Pinewood Prep as offensive coordinator. He was promoted to head football coach and head speed and strength coach at Pinewood Prep.

Holland began working with South Carolina High School League teams in 2011, when he joined Barnwell as a defensive line coach. In 2012, he accepted the job at H-K-T.

While Freeman will work as athletics director until his planned retirement in June, Holland will begin work with the Panthers football team immediately, and will direct the team’s spring practices, which begin in May. Holland met with faculty and staff at Pelion on Wednesday, and plans to meet with his players early next week.

Holland is excited to get started at Pelion, and looking forward to putting his stamp on the football program.

“Pelion High School is in a very fortunate place,” Cooper said. “We’ve been under the direction of Ben Freeman, who is a Hall of Fame caliber person, coach and administrator, for a long time.

“Now, he’s walking away and into the next phase of his life and leaving us in a really good place.”

Holland said, “It’s an honor to take over for coach Freeman. … Any success we have in the next few years will be attributed to the foundation he has laid.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2015 at 11:56 PM with the headline "Holland to coach football at Pelion."