Former Gamecock standout, NFL player joining Midlands high school coaching staff
Another former South Carolina Gamecock is joining the Gray Collegiate football staff.
Willie Offord was announced Tuesday as the team’s new assistant head coach and will work with defensive backs, according to Gray coach Adam Holmes. Offord spent last season at Oceanside Collegiate, Gray’s sister school. Oceanside, however, hired Chad Wilkes as new head coach in the offseason and most of the staff didn’t stick around.
Offord will be the third former Gamecock on the Gray coaching staff, joining Holmes and offensive line/strength conditioning coach Cory Helms. Holmes and Offord were teammates at South Carolina and coached together at Orangeburg Prep.
”Huge pickup for us on the defensive side of the ball,” Holmes said. “Just another great coach to add to our staff.”
The War Eagles are coming off winning their first Class 2A championship last season.
Offord has spent the last two decades in high school coaching, including stops in South Carolina and Florida. He was head coach at Columbia High and also was an assistant coach at Newberry College
In Florida, he was head coach at a few different places, including Palatka and North Marion high schools. He led North Marion to the Florida Class 5A championship game in 2018.
Offord was a safety at South Carolina and recorded 185 tackles in his career. The Minnesota Vikings picked him in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft.
Offord played in 47 games over five seasons for the Minnesota Vikings and had 43 tackles, two interceptions.
