A.C. Flora’s new coach happy to be back home in SC

Things are starting to settle down a bit for Collin Drafts after a hectic past month.

Drafts took the head football coaching job at A.C. Flora in March and has spent the last several weeks catching up to speed before spring practice begins Monday. He still is in the process of putting a staff together and finally met the Falcon community Monday at a meet-and-greet, which was postponed twice because of weather.

“It is a cram session right now,” Drafts said. “But I feel great where we are right now and moving in the right direction. The energy is great and the kids are showing up for after school workouts, and we have great numbers. But it will be just educating players on the expectations of the new A.C. Flora football program. That will be huge for me and the staff.”

Drafts enjoys being back in South Carolina after spending six years in Florida following the end of his Arena Football League with the Orlando Predators. He was an offensive coordinator for five seasons and head coach at East River last year.

But Drafts always wanted to come back to the Palmetto State where he was a standout quarterback at Battery Creek High School and then at Charleston Southern. The 31-year-old is in the hall of fame at both places and will be inducted in the Big South Conference Hall of Fame this summer.

Drafts has ties to the Midlands with his father John, who is the athletic director at Battery Creek, and his uncle Brian, both standout basketball players at Lexington High School.

“I’m a Carolina boy, and even though I was in Orlando for six years,” Drafts said. “… my dream was always to be a head coach in my own state. And when I found out Flora was open and did my research on it with guys I knew in the area, they told me I would be crazy not to take this job.”

Drafts turned East River around in his only season, going from 1-9 to 6-5 and a trip to the postseason. East River won just eight games combined the previous four years. A.C. Flora is coming off a 6-6 season and a trip to the second round of the playoffs.

One of the biggest question marks will be replacing quarterback Carlton Andrews. The top candidates are Leighton Long, Harmon Cox and Keenan transfer Josh Heatley. Long and Cox might miss most of spring ball if the Falcons make a deep playoff run.

“It is all open and all new,” Drafts said. “It will be laid on the guys from day one, whatever you did in the past is great. But we are starting fresh, and all spots are open.”

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 9:45 PM with the headline "A.C. Flora’s new coach happy to be back home in SC."