Former Ninety-Six coach picked to lead Pelion High football program
Pelion High School has filled its football coaching vacancy.
Former Ninety-Six coach Matthew Bennett will be the Panthers’ new coach. Bennett replaces Cory Helms, who left to take the job at Chapin High.
This is Bennett’s second head coaching job. Bennett was introduced to his Pelion players Thursday, although his hire had been previously approved by Lexington 1 School District.
The hold up was getting Bennett out of his contract at Ninety-Six.
Bennett went 14-19 in three seasons at Ninety-Six before being let go after the 2025 season. He led Ninety-Six to an 8-3 record in 2023, the most wins for the program since 2018.
Before Ninety-Six, Bennett was an assistant coach at Clinton from 2019-22 and at Woodmont from 2017-19.
Pelion went 5-6 this season in Helms’ lone year. The five wins were the most for the program since 2014.
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 — Jamie Fordham
Green Sea Floyds — Patrick Martin — Ty Southerland
Hillcrest — Bennett Swygert — Amos Lamb
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 — Matthew Bennett
Seneca — David Crane — TBA
South Florence — Drew Marlowe — Scott Braswell
St. James — Tommy Norwood — Stephen Cagle
Sumter — Mark Barnes — Drew Marlowe
Timberland — Greg Wright — TBA
Union County — Quinnon Isom — Bryan Robinson
Wagener-Salley — Blaze Gillespie — E’Mond Brown
This story was originally published March 12, 2026 at 1:40 PM.
