Rusty Charpia, former Brookland-Cayce football coach, lands new job outside of SC
Former Brookland-Cayce High School football coach Rusty Charpia has landed his next coaching opportunity.
Charpia was hired as the new football coach at Cedar Shoals High , a Class 4A school in Athens, Georgia. He replaces Leroy Ryals, who was fired in December after nine seasons. Cedar Shoals went 0-10 in 2024 and hasn’t had a winning season since 2019.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to coach the young men at Cedar Shoals High,” Charpia said in a news release. “I know of the rich football history from my former teammates at Clemson who played here. I can’t wait to get started toward making Jaguar football a championship program again.”
Cedar Shoals principal Makeba Clark said in a release that Charpia “brings the energy and fire we need to reconnect our community with Jag football.”
Charpia was told last month that he wouldn’t be back as B-C coach and athletic director. He has since been replaced by Camden assistant Louis Clyburn.
The longtime coach and school athletic director 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 for 2024. Charpia also applied to return for 2025. He was one of the six candidates who got first interviews for the position but didn’t make the cut for the second round, a local athletics source told The State.
The Lexington 2 school board voted in favor to negotiate to pay Charpia’s buyout at last month’s meeting. Some school board members did not approve of how things were handled with the B-C coaching search.
“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,” Lexington 2 board member Liz 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.”
Charpia had been the head football coach at B-C since 2011 and left as the school’s all-time winningest coach with 92 victories, including 16 postseason victories. He led the Bearcats to four region titles and three state semifinal appearances in 2016, 2017 and 2023.
The 2016 region title was the program’s first since 2003. The 2016 team won a school-record 12 games. Before Charpia’s arrival, the school hadn’t won a playoff game since 2004. B-C had two 10-win seasons under Charpia after having one in school history before that. He also had been selected to coach in the North-South and Shrine Bowl.
This story was originally published February 20, 2025 at 4:09 PM.
