Spring Valley to hire alum, former standout as next football coach. Here’s the latest
Spring Valley High is going to hire one of its own to lead the school’s football program.
Former Spring Valley standout Norman Washington will be the school’s new football coach His hire was officially approved March 11 by the Richland 2 school board. He replaces Nygel Pearson, who resigned after two seasons.
This will be Washington’s first head coaching job. He was most recently the linebackers coach at Class 5A Gainesville High in Georgia, the alma mater of former Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Before Gainesville, he spent time was the co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach at Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia.
Washington is a 2009 graduate of Spring Valley, where he was a captain and an all-state selection. He went on to play at Middle Tennessee State in college, appearing in 38 games for the Blue Raiders from 2009-2011.
Washington will look to turn around his alma mater, which has struggled recently and will enter the 2025 season with a 24-game losing streak.
The losing streak for Spring Valley, which has sent seven former players to the NFL, dates back to the 2022 season. The Vikings have a rich history and have won four state titles with the last coming in 1988. Spring Valley reached the quarterfinals of the 5A playoffs in 2017.
SC Football Coaching Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
Aiken — Dwayne Garrick — Steve Hibbitts
Allendale-Fairfax — Tristain Armstrong — Travis Lewis
Brookland-Cayce — Rusty Charpia — Louis Clyburn
Cardinal Newman — Cory Helms — TBA
First Baptist —Jamaal Birch — Kevin Mapp
Gaffney — Dan Jones — Donnie Littlejohn
Greenville — Jaybo Shaw — Steve Watson
JL Mann — Steve Watson — Bryce Smiley
Keenan — Ray McCleod — Jarrett Neely
Kingstree — Brian Smith — TBA
Laurence Manning — Robbie Briggs — Jimmy Noonan
Lexington — Dustin Curtis — Stewart Young
Midland Valley — Earl Chaptman — Brent Dorn
Nation Ford — Michael Allen — Jake Bentley
Oceanside Collegiate — John Patterson (interim) — Brent LaPrad
Orangeburg Prep — Don Shelley — Brooks Smith
Pelion — Dann Holland — Cory Helms
Porter-Gaud — Brad Bowles — TBA
River Bluff — Blair Hardin — TBA
Saluda — Stewart Young — Greg Woerner
Southside — Roy Ravenell — TBA
Southside Christian — Mike Sonneborn — Jonathan Gess
Spring Valley — Nygel Pearson — Norman Washington
Trinity Collegiate — Jared Amell — TBA
Westwood — Rob O’Connell — Stephen Burris
West Ashley — Donnie Kiefer — Rashad Graham
West Florence — Jody Jenerette — Chad Wilkes
Whale Branch — Jerry Hatcher — TBA
Wilson — Daryl Page (interim) — Brian Wilson
This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 7:37 PM.
