Batesburg-Leesville fills football vacancy with championship-winning coach
Batesburg-Leesville High School filling its football opening with a state-championship winning coach.
Former Greenwood and Seneca coach Gene Cathcart will be the new Panthers coach. The move was approved at Tuesday’s Lexington Three school board meeting. Cathcart replaces Gary Adams, who stepped down as head coach after five seasons.
“Thank you Superintendent Dr. Atkinson, Ass’t Superintendent Ralph Schmidt, Principal Sonya Bryant, A.D. Eric Gambrell, the Lexington Dist 3 BoE for allowing me the opportunity to become a Batesburg-Leesville Panther!,” Catchcart posted on Twitter on Tuesday night. “220 Days to WORK together to Restore the Roar ‘till Kick-Off ‘22.”
Cathcart will officially begin his job on July 1 but will have a presence in the district before that date.
Earlier Tuesday afternoon, Cathcart announced on social media he was leaving his head coaching position at Jefferson High School in Georgia but didn’t put where he was going. Jefferson School District released a statement announcing Cathcart is going to Batesburg-Leesville.
Cathcart has been at Jefferson since 2015 and was promoted to head coach in 2017. He led Jefferson to the 2020 Class 4A state championship game and was 51-11 during his tenure there, which included two other trips to the state quarterfinals.
Cathcart, who won his 150th game this season and is 158-53 in his career, led Jefferson to back-to-back region championships for the first time in school history. Jefferson went 9-2 this year and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
“I want to thank Coach Cathcart for his service to our football program. He is an outstanding coach and an even better human being. I sincerely wish that the river is good to him in the crossing,” Jefferson AD Bill Navas said.
Before Jefferson, Cathcart was head coach at Greenwood and Seneca high schools. He was Greenwood’s head coach from 2009-13 and led the Eagles to three straight Class 4A Division II state championship games, winning it all in 2012.
Cathcart left Greenwood to take over at Seneca in 2014 and was 9-3 in his one season there as head coach.
Before his stops in South Carolina, Cathcart has coached at Habersham Central in Georgia. He led the Raiders to a 40-27 record, two of the school’s five region championships (2006-07) and back-to-back state quarterfinal appearances.
Cathcart also was an assistant coach at Presbyterian College, Pickens, Manning and Daniel high schools.
Batesburg-Leesville went 3-4 this season, finished fourth in Region 3-2A and had missed some games because of COVID-19. The Panthers lost in the first round of the playoffs. The Panthers will be moving into Region 3-2A next year in the SC High School League realignment with Fox Creek, Pelion, Silver Bluff, Strom Thurmond and Saluda.
The Panthers are one of Midlands’ most historic programs. They have won seven state championships with the last coming in 2013 under Jerry Brown. B-L’s last state championship appearance came in 2017 with current Lexington coach Perry Woolbright.
With B-L getting a new coach, there are still openings at A.C. Flora, Airport and Newberry.
Newberry athletic director Chad Cary said the school is beginning interviews with candidates this week and hopes to have a new coach by the end of the month.
SC High School Football Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
AC Flora — Dustin Curtis— TBA
Airport — Kirk Burnett — TBA
Batesburg-Leesville — Gary Adams — Gene Cathcart
Bluffton — John Haupt— TBA
Boiling Springs — Rick Tate — Matt Reel
Dorman — Dave Guttshall — Dustin Curtis
Hilton Head Prep — Dave Adams — TBA
Lewisville — Will Mitchell — Leon Boulware
Newberry — Phil Strickland — TBA
North Augusta — Jim Bob Bryant — TBA
North Myrtle Beach — Matt Reel — TBA
Oceanside Collegiate — Joe Call — TBA
Stall — Joe Bessinger — TBA
Travelers Rest — Ray Gould — TBA
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 4:51 PM.
