Lampkin taking the reins of Darlington football this fall
By David Shelton
Senior Writer
Darlington – Will Lampkin has never run from a challenge and he heads into his new job as head football coach at Darlington High full of optimism.
Lampkin was hired this spring to revive a program that has not lacked for athletes in recent years. The Falcons were 1-9 last season and Lampkin is looking to turn things around.
“I don’t know how quickly it can be done but I definitely feel like we can compete and win some games here,” said Lampkin, who turned a dormant Kingstree program into a competitive team in four years as the head coach. “We know we have a lot of hard work ahead of us. This will not be easy. We play a very competitive schedule and we’re running behind some of those other programs right now. We’ll catch up. I feel like we have good athletes. We just have to get them headed in the right direction.”
Lampkin has coached and learned from some of the more respected coaches in the state. He got his start at Berkeley High under Jerry Brown in 1995. He moved on to Stratford, under Ray Stackley for nine years before taking his first head coaching position at Kingstree. Both Brown and Stackley have more than 230 career coaching victories and have led their programs to state titles.
“I have been blessed to be surrounded by great men and I learned a lot about how to run a program,” Lampkin said.
Lampkin spent last season as the defensive coordinator at Ridgeland High School but is glad to be a head coach again. He says Darlington attracted his attention early on and once he met the people at the school, his mind was made up.
“What I see here is a great support system, a great community, and great kids,” the coach said. “The people in this community are hard working people and they just want to see their kids succeed. There is a commitment to winning here and I’m going to do the best I can to make it happen.”
Lampkin says the school administration has agreed to have weightlifting and conditioning as a class this fall, something that most schools in the state have but Darlington did not.
“We have to get stronger and we needed this class to catch up and keep up with the rest of the state,” said Lampkin.
The coach has filled out his varsity coaching staff for the coming year. Hired as the offensive line coach is Jeff Bley, the former head coach at Latta High School.
Dean Fullard, a former coach at Marlboro County, will coach the defensive linemen. William Dubose, who played at Darlington and South Carolina State, will coach the backs on offense, while Dennis Gearhart will coach the secondary and serve as the head junior varsity coach.
There is one opening on the staff but Lampkin may keep it open for a year.
“We may be short-staffed this year but I’m not going to bring in someone that I’m not comfortable with just to fill a spot,” said the coach. “We will keep the position open until we find the right guy. I want to find the right match that will be with the program for the long term.
“We have good men coaching here. It’s going to take a little time for everyone to get on the same page but these men will work hard. We are all committed to doing the best we can for these kids.”
