Longtime Midlands coach to lead Lexington charter school’s football program
American Leadership Academy will begin its second season of football with a new coach.
Kemper Amick has been promoted to be ALA’s new coach, the school announced Monday. Amick replaces Robin Bacon, who recently resigned after one season at the Lexington public charter school that opened for the 2024-25 school year.
Amick was the defensive coordinator on ALA’s staff last season. The Patriots went 0-9 this season, playing all of their games on the road until an on-campus stadium is built.
“I knew from the first ever ALA Lexington football practice that this is home for me. The experience of building a program from the ground up is incredibly rewarding,” Amick said. ”This opportunity to follow Coach Bacon, who leaves the program in tremendous shape, makes this transition a lot easier for us all.”
Amick is best known for his long stint at Columbia High, where he stepped down after the 2013 season. He won 113 games as Capitals head coach, two region championships and his teams made four state semifinal appearances.
The Capitals’ best season under Amick came in 2007 when they went 13-1 and lost to Chapman in the state semifinals.
Amick also worked as the defensive coordinator at Brookland-Cayce.
Bacon plans to finish out the school year at ALA and then plans to move this summer to Greenville area to be closer to his son. He plans to continue to coach as an assistant and has reached out to coaches in Greenville area.
“We have been talking about moving for a couple of years and we felt it was God’s timing,” Bacon told The State. “I’m really excited about Kemper taking this job and he is probably one of my closest friends in coaching. He knows the things they need to do. Obviously, starting a program from scratch is tough but I am excited for him and he deserves it.”
Bacon was the head coach at Spring Valley High in Northeast Columbia from 2015 before stepping down following the end of this 2023 season. He has been a coach for 32 years.
American Leadership Academy, which is based out of Arizona and has schools there and in the Carolinas. It plans to open a school in Blythewood and one in Greenville in the 2026-2027 school year.
SC football Coaching Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
Academic Magnet — Mitch White — Austin Miller
Aiken — Dwayne Garrick — Steve Hibbitts
Allendale-Fairfax — Tristain Armstrong — Travis Lewis
American Leadership — Robin Bacon — Kemper Amick
Brookland-Cayce — Rusty Charpia — Louis Clyburn
CA Johnson — Scotty Dean — TBA
Cardinal Newman — Cory Helms — Jared Shaw
Daniel — Jeff Fruster — 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
Lamar — Stephen Burris — 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 — Matt Neighbors
River Bluff — Blair Hardin — Perry Parks
Rock Hill — Randy Birch — TBA
Saluda — Stewart Young — Greg Woerner
Southside — Roy Ravenell — AJ Millis
Southside Christian — Mike Sonneborn — Jonathan Gess
Spring Valley — Nygel Pearson — Norman Washington
Trinity Collegiate — Jared Amell — Shawn Fagan
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
Woodmont — Ty Sutherland — Malcolm Boyd
This story was originally published April 7, 2025 at 9:37 AM.
