Pelion football coach stepping down, but he’ll stay with Panthers in evolving role
There’s another high school football job head coach opening in the Midlands.
Pelion’s Dann Holland has stepped down as football coach but will remain as the school’s athletic director. Lexington 1, Pelion’s school district, is splitting all of its athletic director and football coaching jobs by the end of the 2025-26 school year.
“I’m excited to move into the role as full time AD. I’ll miss football. I’ve been coaching it for a long time,” Holland told The State. “The Friday nights, the camaraderie among the coaches, seeing the looks on the kids faces when they have success will be difficult to let go. That being said, after 10 years I felt it was time for a new voice for the program.”
River Bluff and Gilbert split their jobs last year. Lexington and White Knoll are the two remaining schools in the district that have yet to do so.
Holland has been at Pelion since 2015 and led the Panthers to a region championship in 2020, the COVID-shortened season. It was just the third title in school history and his lone season with a winning record at the school.
After Pelion clinched the region title on Nov. 5, 2020, Holland’s postgame interview with The State went viral, discussing choice of music in the morning the day of the region-winning game.
“I knew it was going to be a good day,” Holland said. “I got up this morning and got right with the Lord. I turned my Bluetooth on and it came up Iron Maiden, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Ozzy Osborne. I said, ‘Ball game is over boys, we winning this thing.’ “I am so happy for our players and our community. Nobody gave us any chance whatsoever to do this.”
Holland’s postgame comments earned him national attention: Barstool Sports named Holland its High School Football Guy of the Week honors. His soundbite on X (formerly Twitter) was viewed more than 280,000 times.
Before Pelion, Holland won back-to-back state championships at Class A Hunter-Kinard Tyler in 2013-14.
Pelion went 2-9 this season and lost in the first round of the 2A playoffs. They join Spring Valley and Keenan as schools looking for a permanent football coach.
Keenan placed Ray McLeod on administrative leave before the season started. Jarrett Neely was named interim coach and has a chance to get the full-time position. The Raiders won eight games and advanced to the third round of the Class 3A playoffs before losing last week.
SC High School Football Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
Aiken — Dwayne Garrick — TBA
Gaffney — Dan Jones (retiring at end of season) — TBA
Keenan — Ray McCleod — Jarrett Neely (interim)
Laurence Manning — Robbie Briggs — TBA
Midland Valley — Earl Chaptman — Brent Dorn (Interim)
Nation Ford — Michael Allen — TBA
Oceanside Collegiate — Chad Wilkes — John Patterson (interim)
Southside — Roy Ravenell — TBA
Spring Valley — Nygel Pearson — TBA
West Ashley — Donnie Kiefer — TBA
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 12:52 PM.
