High School Football

Heathwood Hall hires program’s new football coach

Heathwood Hall
Heathwood Hall Dwayne McLemore dmclemore@thestate.com

Heathwood Hall has filled its football coaching vacancy.

Rabun Gap (Ga.) assistant coach Rick Reetz will be the Highlanders’ new football coach. Reetz takes over for Danny Lewis, who left to take an assistant coaching position at The Citadel.

Reetz was one of three finalists for the job.

Reetz spent last season as offensive coordinator for Rabun Gap and has more than 30 years of coaching experience. Rabun Gap averaged 382 yards of offense in 2022 and featured Division I prospect in quarterback Gavin Owens.

Before Rabun Gap, Reetz was an assistant coach at James Island and head coach at St. Andrews in Austin, Texas.

Reetz is best known in the Palmetto State for his decade at Porter-Gaud, a SCISA school in Charleston. He was 71-47 overall and had two SCISA Class 3A championship game appearances in 2010 and 2016.

Reetz’s Porter-Gaud teams set school records for their offense. The 2010 team averaged 443 yards and 40.9 points per game. Quarterback Hudson Worthy threw for 4,102 yards that season.

Reetz left Porter-Gaud in 2019 to move over to James Island.

Reetz also coached more than 20 years in Rhode Island with stops at Cumberland and Moses Brown high schools.

The Highlanders enjoyed success under Lewis. Heathwood’s best season recently was an 8-5 finish in 2019, the most wins since 2009. The Highlanders went 5-6 in 2022 and lost to Porter-Gaud 20-17 in the first round of the SCISA 4A playoffs.

Heathwood has a strong group of returning players, including quarterback Patrick Belk, who had almost 2,000 yards of total offense and 12 touchdowns this past season.

SC High School Football openings

School — Former School — New Coach

  • Aiken — Olajuwon Paige — Dwayne Garrick

  • Beaufort Academy — Mark Clifford — Nic Shuford
  • Barnwell — Dwayne Garrick — TBA
  • Berea — Julius Prince — Drew Chisholm
  • Berkeley — Jerry Brown — Eric Lodge
  • Clover — Brian Lane — Perry Woolbright
  • Colleton County — Kris Howell — Adam Kinloch
  • Columbia — Jason Bush — TBA
  • Conway — Carlton Terry — Josh Pierce
  • Darlington — Raymond Jennings — Jamie Johnson
  • Dillon Christian — Christian Wolfe — Donell Stanley

  • Dorman — Dustin Curtis — TBA
  • Eau Claire — Shaq Hilton — TBA
  • Edisto — Preston Deaver — TBA
  • First Baptist — Johnny Waters — Jamaal Birch

  • Georgetown — Jimmy Noonan — Bradley Adams

  • Great Falls — DeMarcus Simons — TBA
  • Green Sea Floyds — Joey Price — Patrick Martin
  • Hanahan — Art Craig — Milan Turner

  • Hannah-Pamplico — Jamie Johnson — Trey Woodberry
  • Heathwood Hall — Danny Lewis — Rick Reetz
  • Hillcrest — Anthony Frate — Bennett Swygert
  • Lamar — Josh Pierce — TBA
  • Landrum — Jason Farmer — Brent Bridges
  • Lexington — Perry Woolbright — Dustin Curtis
  • Mauldin — Sayre Nesmith — TBA
  • May River — Rodney Summers — Richard Bonneville
  • Mullins — John Williams — TBA

  • Ninety-Six — Matthew Owings — TBA
  • North Central — Ryan McDonnell (interim) — Daniel Sisk
  • North Charleston — Devon Smalls — TBA
  • Orangeburg Prep — Andy Palmer — Don Shelley
  • Palmetto — Doug Shaw — Ryan Norton
  • Pickens — Chad Smith — James Reynolds
  • Pinewood Prep — J.W. Myers — DeVonte Holloman
  • Spring Valley — Robin Bacon — Nygel Pearson
  • Thomas Heyward — Nic Shuford — Tony McGeary

  • Walhalla — Padgett Johnson — Chris Stone
  • Ware Shoals — Chris Johnston — Chris Dodson
  • Westside — Scott Earley — Brian Lane
  • Williamsburg Academy — Don Shelley — Tyler Boyd
  • Woodmont — Jeff Murdock — Ty Sutherland
  • Woodruff — Bradley Adams — Brett Sloan
  • Wren — Jeff Tate — Anthony Frate

    Rick Reetz has been named new football coach at Heathwood Hall.
    Rick Reetz has been named new football coach at Heathwood Hall. Submitted Photo


    • This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 4:30 PM.

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    Lou Bezjak
    The State
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    Lou Bezjak is the High School Sports Prep Coordinator for The (Columbia) State and (Hilton Head) Island Packet. He previously worked at the Florence Morning News and had covered high school sports in South Carolina since 2002. Lou is a two-time South Carolina Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Support my work with a digital subscription
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