Irmo’s Kennedy, Camden’s Neal to coach North-South game
Irmo’s Reggie Kennedy and Camden’s Jimmy Neal have been named head coaches for the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives North-South football game.
Kennedy will be the head coach for the South, while Neal will coach the North for the game Dec. 10 at Doug Shaw Stadium in Myrtle Beach.
“It is an honor to be able to coach some of the best players in South Carolina,” Kennedy said. “I got to coach in the Shrine Bowl, and that was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to this opportunity.”
Kennedy was the acting head coach for the South Carolina squad in the 2007 Shrine Bowl when David Farnham died. Neal also was an assistant for that game.
With Kennedy and Neal’s selections, it means the Midlands will have head coaches in both South Carolina all-star games this season. Newberry’s Phil Strickland is coach for the South Carolina squad in the Shrine Bowl.
Kennedy, a former East Clarendon and South Carolina State standout, has been a head coach since 1995 with stops at Kingstree, Fairfield Central, Orangeburg-Wilkinson, Blythewood and Sumter before coming to Irmo in 2014. He was a candidate for the Manning coaching position, but said Friday he is staying put at Irmo.
Kennedy has won 146 games in his coaching career and led Sumter to state title appearance in 2013.
Neal just finished his 18th season at Camden, and is the longest current tenured Midlands coach at one school. He has 128 victories, second most in school history, and led Camden to the 2001 Class 3A state championship with a 15-0 record. The Bulldogs also played for a state title in 2003.
Neal was a defensive line coach on Furman’s 1988 Division I-AA national championship team before going to Camden.
Assistants for the South squad will be Mark Clifford (Beaufort), Tony Felder (Manning), Marion Brow (Baptist Hill), Mike Highsmith (Barnwell) and Joe Hauff (Goose Creek).
North assistants are Greg Porter (Hillcrest), John Boggs (Pickens), Jamie Nickles (Abbeville), Eddie Whitt (Boiling Springs) and Tommy Bobo (Christ Church).
This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 10:46 PM with the headline "Irmo’s Kennedy, Camden’s Neal to coach North-South game."