Former Gamecock returning to Midlands to lead area high school football program
A former South Carolina Gamecock is headed back to Columbia to lead a local high school football program.
Former USC player Willie Offord will be the next head coach at A.C. Flora High School, according to multiple athletic sources. Offord’s hire is expected to be made official at Tuesday’s Richland 1 school board meeting. Offord replaces Ken Floyd, who resigned in January after four seasons.
Offord was most recently the head coach at Lakewood High School, where he went 4-27 the past three years at a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2014. But he is entering a much better situation with the Falcons program. A.C. Flora has won four region championships and a state title (2020) since 2018.
The Falcons were 11-2 in 2025 and went to the Class 4A quarterfinals. A.C. Flora must replace several players they lost to graduation and transfer. After the season ended, receiver Joshua Davis and Ashton Thompson transferred to Rabun Gap (Ga.), and defensive end Peyton Bishop announced he was going to Dutch Fork.
Offord has been a well-traveled coach since his playing career ended. In addition to Lakewood, he was an assistant at Orangeburg Prep, Gray Collegiate, Oceanside Collegiate and Newberry College, and was Columbia High head coach for one season (2014) and a successful head coach at four different stops in Florida.
In Florida, Offord was head coach at Paxon School, Interlachen School, Palatka and North Marion high schools. He led North Marion to the Florida Class 5A championship game in 2018.
As a player, Offord was a safety at South Carolina and recorded 185 tackles in his career playing for Brad Scott and Lou Holtz with the Gamecocks. The Minnesota Vikings picked him in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft.
Offord played in 47 games over five seasons for the Minnesota Vikings and had 43 tackles, two interceptions.
SC Football Coaching Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
AC Flora — Ken Floyd — Willie Offord
Belton-Honea Path — Russell Blackston — David Crane
Chapin — Ryan Cole — Cory Helms
Chester — Victor Floyd — Jerry Caldwell
Clover — Perry Woolright — Bennett Swygert
Colleton County — Adam Kinloch — Bradley Adams
Conway — Josh Pierce — Jody Jenerette
Goose Creek — Jason Winstead — TBA
Green Sea Floyds — Patrick Martin — Ty Southerland
Hillcrest — Bennett Swygert — TBA
Lake Wylie — (School opens in 2026) — N/A — Nick Pelham
Liberty — Paul Sutherland — Bobby Ruff
McCormick — Leroy Collier — TBA
Marion — Brian Hennecy — TBA
May River — Richard Bonneville — Stephen Nimmer
Mid-Carolina — Chris Arnoult — TBA
Ninety-Six — Matthew Bennett — Austin Sargent
North Myrtle Beach — Greg Hill — Perry Woolbright
Pelion — Cory Helms — TBA
Seneca — David Crane — TBA
South Florence — Drew Marlowe — Scott Braswell
St. James — Tommy Norwood — Stephen Cagle
Sumter — Mark Barnes — Drew Marlowe
Union County — Quinnon Isom — Bryan Robinson
Wagener-Salley — Blaze Gillespie — E’Mond Brown
This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 8:12 PM.
