Richland Northeast has found its next football coach. Here are the details
As Richland Northeast fills its football coaching vacancy, another Midlands school job opens up.
Eau Claire head coach DeMarcus Simons will be the next Cavs’ coach. The move is expected to be approved at Tuesday’s Richland 2 school board meeting. Simons replaces Walt Wilson, who resigned in April after five seasons.
Simons posted on his Facebook page earlier Tuesday afternoon that would be leaving the Eau Claire program, but didn’t say where he was going. His old job already is posted on SC Athletic Coaches Association job board.
This is Simons’ third head coaching job. He was at Great Falls from 2020-22 and led the Red Devils to a seven-win season in 2021.
At Eau Claire, Simons led the Shamrocks to five wins in 2025, the most the program won since 1992, and a first-round playoff appearance. He was a finalist for The State newspaper’s Coach of the Year. Prior to this year, Eau Claire had won one game over a five-year span.
Simons also was an assistant coach at Keenan before landing a head coaching opportunity.
He’ll be entering another rebuilding project. The Cavs went 0-10 this past season after back-to-back winning years in 2023-24. RNE made it to the second round of the playoffs in those two seasons. It was RNE’s first playoff win since 2015 and the first time the school had back-to-back seasons over .500 since 2010-12.
SC Football Coaching Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
AC Flora — Ken Floyd — Willie Offord
ALA Blythewood (School opens in 2026-27) — N/A — Todd Varn
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
Lakewood — Willie Offord — Jerran Devlin
Liberty — Paul Sutherland — Bobby Ruff
McCormick — Leroy Collier — Daniel Burton
Marion — Brian Hennecy — Aundres Perkins
May River — Richard Bonneville — Stephen Nimmer
Mid-Carolina — Chris Arnoult — Jody Haltiwanger
Ninety-Six — Matthew Bennett — Austin Sargent
North Myrtle Beach — Greg Hill — Perry Woolbright
Pelion — Cory Helms — Matthew Bennett
Richland Northeast — Walt Wilson — DeMarcus Simons
Seneca — David Crane — Drec Ellis
South Florence — Drew Marlowe — Scott Braswell
St. James — Tommy Norwood — Stephen Cagle
Sumter — Mark Barnes — Drew Marlowe
Timberland — Greg Wright — Brooks Burnette
Union County — Quinnon Isom — Bryan Robinson
Wagener-Salley — Blaze Gillespie — E’Mond Brown
