Former Blythewood coach to lead new public charter school’s athletic program
The area’s newest public charter school has found the person to lead its athletic department.
Former Blythewood and Eastside football coach Dan Morgan will be the first athletic director American Leadership Blythewood. An official announcement is expected soon from the school. The school will open for the 2026-27 school year.
Morgan was head coach at Blythewood from 2013-16 and then from Eastside (2017-18), compiling a 47-26 mark including an 11-win season in his first year at Eastside.
After leaving Eastside, Morgan spent time as an assistant coach at Spring Valley and is currently a teacher at Westwood in Blythewood. He is expected to start his new job at ALA Blythewood this month.
Before becoming a head coach, Morgan also spent time as an assistant at Brookland-Cayce, Waccamaw, Northwestern and West-Oak.
This is the second ALA campus in the Midlands. ALA Lexington opened in the 2023-24 school year. The school played a junior varsity schedule the first year before transitioning to varsity sports and is a member of the SC High School League.
The Patriots’ boys basketball team played in the Class 2A Lower State championship this year.
ALA Blythewood, which will be K-12, will play junior varsity sports in its first year before playing varsity sports. The school hasn’t applied yet for membership in the SCHSL. Their mascot will be the Guardians.
ALA Blythewood brought property last year along the U.S. Highway 21 that previously housed Policy Management Systems Corp., a long-defunct insurance technology company.
The campus is located within Richland School District 2 and is close to district schools like Bethel-Hanberry Elementary School, Westwood High School and Blythewood High School.
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 2:34 PM.
