Scott Braswell ready for first year as South Florence football head coach
Brian Wilson, Chad Wilkes return for second seasons at Wilson, West Florence, respectively
Florence – The South Florence High School football program will certainly be entering a new era in the 2026 season. That’s because Drew Marlowe, who took the Bruins to two AAAA state championships while playing in four consecutive title games the past four years, is now the head coach at his alma mater, Sumter.
South’s new head coach is Scott Braswell Jr. While he has some big shoes to fill in his first head coaching gig, there is no way Braswell should be overwhelmed. He has been the defensive coordinator for the past four years at Dutch Fork, which has won five straight state championships and seven in the last eight years.
“It’s been great,” Braswell said about his first few months with the Bruins. “I’ve been incredibly blessed. There had been whispers about the job coming open, but I was steaming along with Dutch Fork when Coach (former South athletic director Cody) Slaughter reached out to me about the job. I’m so excited to be here. It’s been an incredible blessing.
“The kids have been so great. I’ve been preaching to them and coaching them, and they’ve accepted me. They’ve really worked their butts off since I got here.”
Clay Owens will be Braswell’s assistant head coach, while Patrick Koone will be offensive coordinator and coach the quarterbacks. The offensive line coach has a familiar name, Scott Braswell – Sr. The elder Braswell had coached at Dutch Fork the past two years.
John Gathings will coach the tight ends, Adam Rice the wide receivers, Demetrius Brand the running backs, and Michael McManus will be the offensive skill assistant.
Braswell Jr. will call the defense. He will have Neal Boozer, who coached at Brookland-Cayce last year but had worked with him at Dutch Fork, coaching safeties as well as working as the strength and conditioning coach.
Other defensive assistants are David Robinson with cornerbacks, Sam Montgomery with linebackers, Stan Adams with tackles and Troy Biddy with ends.
Over at Wilson High, Brian Wilson will be back for his second year as head coach. He took a Tigers team that went 1-9 in 2024 and led it to a 7-5 record with a victory in the first round of the AAAA state playoffs.
With eight starters back on both sides of the football, Wilson is hoping more marked improvement awaits. The Tigers will be switching up things they do offensively, but the head coach is happy with what he’s seen.
“Our guys were just picking up the scheme from Day 1 to where we’re at today, if we keep progressing like that I think we can be really, really good,” Wilson said.
Braxton Ivery is back as Wilson’s offensive coordinator. He will coach the wide receivers along with Ezra Lighty, while Jeremy Bowman and Justin Evans will handle the offensive line. Harrison Terry will be the quarterback coach, Andrew Bethea will coach running backs, and Dyson Roberts will handle the kicking game.
The Tigers will have co-defensive coordinators in Jalen Barr and Robert Zimmerman. Barr will coach linebackers along with Lindsey Robertson, while Zimmerman and Malik Samuels will coach the defensive line. Antonio Jones and Zy’Quarius Washington will coach the defensive backs.
Chad Wilkes will be back for his second season in charge of West Florence football. He led the Knights to a 6-6 record after a 1-3 start, and they also came away with a victory in the first round of the AAAAA Division II state playoffs.
Wilkes, who coached Oceanside Collegiate Academy to a state championship in 2023, will have Mike Jones back as his defensive coordinator. Other members of the staff will include Andrew Niemeyer, Kris Howell, Robbie Suggs, Mike Howard, Jarret Varn, Kody Varn, Dominique Muldrow, Nick Alvarado and Tiyon Evans.
The three Florence 1 high schools will once again be in the same classification and members of the same region following the South Carolina High School League’s bi-annual reclassification. South, West and Wilson will all be part of Region 7 along with St. James, Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach.
West Florence was bumped up to AAAAA in the 2024 reclassification while Wilson and South Florence remained AAAA.
