BY LOU BEZJAK

With spring football practice beginning this week for high schools around the state, Lugoff-Elgin is looking for a football coach.

Lugoff-Elgin coach and athletic director Leon Boulware is leaving to become Rock Hill’s next football coach. He will replace Randy Birch, who was with the school for just one season.

Boulware was introduced at a press conference on Wednesday morning. “We had things rolling at Lugoff-Elgin,” Boulware said Wednesday. “But at the same time the opportunity to come home, you can’t let it slip away.”

Lugoff-Elgin is the 13th Midlands football program that will have a new coach next season. In addition to L-E, Airport is still looking for a football coach and is starting interviews for its vacancy this week.

Boulware leaves Lugoff-Elgin after just one season and has extensive ties to York, Chester and Lancaster counties. Plus, he is a Rock Hill graduate, a factor that played a large part in him leaving Lugoff-Elgin.

In his one year at L-E, the Demons went from 2-9 to a 4-7, the biggest improvement for the school since 2016-17.

“My goal here the whole time was to be here at Rock Hill as a head football coach,” Boulware told WRHI after his press conference. “This has been my dream job since day one. For that to come true was a great moment.”

Boulware was an assistant at Lancaster (2007-11), Nation Ford (2011-14), Indian Land (2014-19) and Northwestern (2019-21). At Indian Land, he also was the school’s wrestling coach and led the program to back-to-back state championships.

Boulware also led Northwestern’s wrestling team to a state semifinal appearance. He left Northwestern to become the North Myrtle Beach wrestling coach for the 2021-22 school year. After one season at NMB, he left to become Lewisville’s head football coach and went 21-4 in his two seasons there. Lewisville won only 11 games in four seasons before Boulware arrived.

SC football coaching openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
Academic Magnet — Mitch White — Austin Miller
Aiken — Dwayne Garrick — Steve Hibbitts
Airport — Shane Fidler — TBA
Allendale-Fairfax — Tristain Armstrong — Travis Lewis
American Leadership — Robin Bacon — Kemper Amick
Brookland-Cayce — Rusty Charpia — Louis Clyburn
CA Johnson — Scotty Dean — TBA
Cardinal Newman — Cory Helms — Jared Shaw
Daniel — Jeff Fruster — Chris Stone
First Baptist —Jamaal Birch — Kevin Mapp
Gaffney — Dan Jones — Donnie Littlejohn
Greenville — Jaybo Shaw — Steve Watson
JL Mann — Steve Watson — Bryce Smiley
Keenan — Ray McCleod — Jarrett Neely
Kingstree — Brian Smith — TBA
Lamar — Stephen Burris — Tyler Boyd
Landrum — Brent Bridges — TBA
Laurence Manning — Robbie Briggs — Jimmy Noonan
Lexington — Dustin Curtis — Stewart Young
Lugoff-Elgin — Leon Boulware — TBA
Midland Valley — Earl Chaptman — Brent Dorn
Nation Ford — Michael Allen — Jake Bentley
Oceanside Collegiate — John Patterson (interim) — Brent LaPrad
Orangeburg Prep — Don Shelley — Brooks Smith
Pelion — Dann Holland — Cory Helms
Porter-Gaud — Brad Bowles — Matt Neighbors
River Bluff — Blair Hardin — Perry Parks
Rock Hill — Randy Birch — Leon Boulwaure
Saluda — Stewart Young — Greg Woerner
Southside — Roy Ravenell — AJ Millis
Southside Christian — Mike Sonneborn — Jonathan Gess
Spring Valley — Nygel Pearson — Norman Washington
Trinity Collegiate — Jared Amell — Shawn Fagan
Westwood — Rob O’Connell — Stephen Burris
West Ashley — Donnie Kiefer — Rashad Graham
West Florence — Jody Jenerette — Chad Wilkes
Whale Branch — Jerry Hatcher — TBA
Wilson — Daryl Page (interim) — Brian Wilson
Woodmont — Ty Sutherland — Malcolm Boyd