Mr. 600: Gray Collegiate soccer coach Kevin Heise notches milestone win

The celebration could be described as someone muted, but the accomplishment was monumental.

Gray Collegiate boys soccer coach Kevin Heise won his 600th career game Tuesday night in a 5-2 victory over Gilbert.

The 34-year coaching veteran became just the third boys soccer coach in state history to reach that mark.

“I’ve been very blessed,” Heise said. “I’ve had a lot of great players over the years. In this type of moment, I don’t think you ever set out as a coach to achieve milestones. You try to coach for the next game and win the next one.”

“It’s a nice accomplishment. It just says I’ve been doing it for a long time. I haven’t played a minute in any of these matches. It’s been a lot of good players.”

Heise joins elite company in the state record books.

Phil Savitz, the longtime coach at Irmo (33 years) and River Bluff (12 years), holds the state record with 824 career victories (fifth most nationally according to the NFHS National High School Sports Record Book) and 15 state championships. Billy Andrews, the coach at West Florence, collected his 650th career victory earlier this season.

All three coaches are already in the S.C. High School Coaches Hall of Fame. Savitz was elected to the National Federation of State High School Associations’ National High School Hall of Fame last month.

The War Eagles jumped to a 5-0 lead Tuesday behind two goals from Noah Mitchell. The senior was part of Heise’s 500th career win and was happy to see his coach reach the 600-win mark before he graduated.

“When we first came here, he was at 500 (wins), so over the course of my time we’ve seen another hundred wins,” Mitchell said. “That’s a big achievement for him and for us as a team as well.”

Saying that Heise is a soccer lifer in the state of South Carolina would be an understatement.

He was a three-year letter winner at Brookland-Cayce and graduated in 1989 after being an All-State goalkeeper and playing in the inaugural North-South Soccer Classic.

A year later, he was the junior varsity soccer coach at his alma mater while being a student at the University of South Carolina. Thad Miller, the varsity coach at the time for the Bearcats, left to take the job at Chapin and Heise was elevated to head varsity coach while still a student at USC.

Heise coached at Brookland-Cayce from 1991 until 2016 and compiled a 454-172-16 record. The Bearcats won 15 region championships and made three state championship game appearances during that time.

The Cayce native then took over the Gray Collegiate program in 2018 and has built a 146-41-10 record since then. The War Eagles are 58-1 in region play during that time and have made the state championship game the last three years.

Overall, Heise is 600-213-36 (a .728 winning percentage) with six state finals, 12 semifinal appearances and 21 region titles.

Heise became a little emotional Tuesday when thinking about the players over the years.

“We had a great run at Brookland-Cayce over the years,” Heise said. “Again, I’ve been blessed with a lot of great players. That’s racing through my head right now, the kids that we’ve coached that have gone on to become tremendous adults. I think that’s what I’m most proud of to be honest with you — creating great young men is something we can be proud of. That’s the foundation of it and soccer is just the vehicle to do it.”

The Heise legacy reaches far and wide. His wife, Emily Heise, is the current girls soccer coach at Gray Collegiate. He also had his two daughters with him at the game, and his twin brother Kyle is an assistant on the staff.

“I’m totally blessed to have them with me every step of the way,” Heise said. “My family being here tonight means the world to me. It’s something we will look back and celebrate.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2025 at 10:06 PM.