Newberry High School finds its new head football coach
Newberry High School has found its replacement for hall of fame coach Phil Strickland.
Newberry defensive coordinator Cedrick Jeter was set to be announced Tuesday as the school’s next head football coach. He replaces Strickland, who has been at the school since 2010.
“This means everything to me,” Jeter said. “Newberry is kind of like a second home to me. Being from Union and now at Newberry, the places kind of mirror each other and I want to be in a place this. It is a blessing.”
The 39-year-old Jeter is the 13th coach at Newberry since 1920. Before coming to Newberry, Jeter was an assistant coach at Union High School in South Carolina for nine years.
Jeter was one of 10 candidates who got an initial interview for the job before the list was trimmed down to five. Jeter’s familiarity with the program and his work with the defense this year were big factors in his hire, according to Newberry athletic director Chad Cary.
The Bulldogs recovered from a 2-4 start and made it to the Class 2A Upper State championship game before losing to eventual champion Gray Collegiate.
“He is a great person and the kids love him,” Cary said. “He is in the building and has their respect. The run and improvement they made from August into November was phenomenal.”
Strickland led Newberry to back-to-back state championship appearances in 2015-16 and won more than 340 games in his 34-year head coaching career. Jeter said Strickland reached out to him seven years ago to join his staff and was able to learn a lot from him.
Jeter started as linebacker coach for a season and has been the defensive coordinator for the past six years.
“He was the reason I came to Newberry,” Jeter said of Strickland. “I came to Newberry to learn from the best and I was able to do that.. The first thing he told me was that it is a marathon and not a sprint. It is going to take a little bit to build upon things he has done here.”
Jeter said there will be a few changes on staff with coaches leaving or retiring but will try his best to keep coaches in tact.
With Newberry’s position filled, the remaining openings in the Midlands are A.C. Flora, Airport, Ben Lippen and Dreher.
SC High School Football Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
AC Flora — Dustin Curtis— TBA
Airport — Kirk Burnett — TBA
Bamberg-Ehrhardt — Robert Williams — Corey Crosby
Batesburg-Leesville — Gary Adams — Gene Cathcart
Ben Lippen — Stephen Cagle — TBA
Bluffton — John Houpt— Hayden Gregory
Boiling Springs — Rick Tate — Matt Reel
Dorman — Dave Guttshall — Dustin Curtis
Dreher — Treigh Sullivan — TBA
Hilton Head Prep — Dave Adams — TBA
Lewisville — Will Mitchell — Leon Boulware
Newberry — Phil Strickland — Cedrick Jeter
North Augusta — Jim Bob Bryant — TBA
North Myrtle Beach — Matt Reel — TBA
Oceanside Collegiate — Joe Call — TBA
Stall — Joe Bessinger — Benjamin Lailson
Travelers Rest — Ray Gould — TBA
This story was originally published January 25, 2022 at 3:21 PM.
