Brookland-Cayce hires its next football coach. Here are the details
Brookland-Cayce High School has ended its search for a new football coach.
Camden offensive coordinator Louis Clyburn was approved Monday by the Lexington 2 school board in a 4-2 vote (with one member abstaining) as the new Bearcats football coach and athletic director. The district held special-called board meeting on Monday with “Consideration of Personnel Appointments” among the things on the agenda.
Clyburn replaces Rusty Charpia, the school’s winningest head coach (92 wins, including 16 postseason victories). Charpia led the Bearcats to four region titles and three state semifinal appearances.
Charpia retired two years ago but stayed on at B-C as a “hire-rehire” for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. Charpia’s job was posted publicly both years by the district and the board approved his return this year. Charpia applied to return again for next year but was told Thursday that he didn’t make the cut for second interviews, the source told The State.
Linda Alford-Wooten and Castles each voted against the hire, more specifically the whole search process.
“I will be voting no on the coach and athletic director position. But I want to make it clear. I am not voting against this individual. I will support whoever fills this position,” Castles said during the meeting. “Anyone who knows me knows I am one of the biggest cheerleaders for this district. I am very deeply committed to athletics, especially Lexington 2 and what it does for our children.
“But I am voting no on the process that was used in the hiring. I feel like it was poorly conceived by the administration from the top to the bottom. The goals were inconsistent and not transparent. That is a bad precedent for future firings and hirings in our school district.”
Clyburn was one of two finalists for the job and this will be his third high school head coaching job. He coached at Andrew Jackson in 2008 and then at North Central from 2009-16 and made three postseason appearances.
After Andrew Jackson, Clyburn returned to his alma mater Camden in 2017 as an offensive line coach and was elevated to offensive coordinator in 2022.
The Bulldogs had deep postseason runs during the stretch, making it to three state championships and one other semifinal appearance. Camden’s offense set various records during that time, including big numbers put up by quarterback Grayson White.
Camden’s 2022 and 2023 offenses were among the state’s best. In 2022, the Bulldogs averaged 393.9 yards and 37.2 points per game. The following season, Camden averaged 399.1 yards and 41.2 points per game.
“Coming to Brookland-Cayce offers an opportunity to lead an elite program in a community that is passionate and supportive of this school and its traditions,” Clyburn said in a school news release. “With today’s rapidly evolving athletic landscape, there are more opportunities than ever at high school, college and professional levels. Brookland-Cayce has the resources in place to provide students with everything they need to grow while in high school, and at the same time expose them to the expanding opportunities available to them. My background and the opportunities I’ve had create a desire to see our athletes reach their potential, academically and athletically, so they’re prepared for success in career and life.”
Before getting into high school coaching, Clyburn coached in college with stops at Appalachian State, Duke, Lenoir Rhyne and Elon. At 26 years old, he was one of the youngest assistant coaches at the Power 5 level when he became tight ends coach at Duke, where he played his college football.
The Bearcats are coming off a 4-7 season and lost in the first round of the 4A playoffs. B-C moved back up to 4A this season in the S.C. High School League realignment and are paired in the same region with rivals Airport and Gray Collegiate.
Brookland-Cayce return QB Dre Dopson but is graduating several key players.
With B-C’s job being filled, there are three area teams without a head football coach — Spring Valley, Cardinal Newman and Saluda. Spring Valley is on its second wave of interviews and hopes to have its job filled sometime this month.
On Monday, Keenan removed its interim tag on assistant coach Jarrett Nealy, who took over when Ray McCleod was put on administrative leave in August. Keenan went 8-5 this season and made it to the third round of the 3A playoffs for the first time since 2014. The eight wins were the program’s most since 2014.
SC High School Football Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
Aiken — Dwayne Garrick — Steve Hibbitts
Brookland-Cayce — Rusty Charpia — Louis Clyburn
Cardinal Newman — Cory Helms — TBA
First Baptist —Jamaal Birch — TBA
Gaffney — Dan Jones — Donnie Littlejohn
Greenville — Jaybo Shaw — Steve Watson
JL Mann — Steve Watson — TBA
Keenan — Ray McCleod — Jarrett Neely
Kingstree — Brian Smith — TBA
Laurence Manning — Robbie Briggs — TBA
Lexington — Dustin Curtis — Stewart Young
Midland Valley — Earl Chaptman — Brent Dorn
Nation Ford — Michael Allen — Jake Bentley
Oceanside Collegiate — John Patterson (interim) — Brent LaPrad
Pelion — Dann Holland — Cory Helms
Porter-Gaud — Brad Bowles — TBA
Saluda — Stewart Young — TBA
Southside — Roy Ravenell — TBA
Southside Christian — Mike Sonneborn — TBA
Spring Valley — Nygel Pearson — TBA
Trinity Collegiate — Jared Amell — TBA
West Ashley — Donnie Kiefer — TBA
West Florence — Jody Jenerette — Chad Wilkes
Whale Branch — Jerry Hatcher — TBA
Wilson — Daryl Page (interim) — Brian Wilson
This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 4:45 PM.
