Alphin ready for second year as Dillon Christian football head coach, athletic director
Sarah Grace Lee to be girls basketball head coach
Dillon – At this time a year ago, Chris Alphin was learning on the fly: how to be a football head coach as well as an athletic director.
The 26-year-old still has plenty of learning to do on both fronts at Dillon Christian School, but he’s a lot further along in the process than he was.
“Last year I tried to juggle a bunch of different things and was still learning,” said Alphin, who is the lone athletic director this year after sharing the duties last year. “I’ve got the right guys around me. I’m definitely more comfortable than I was.”
The Warriors went 3-7 overall last season and 2-2 in SCISA Region 1-AA. The two losses came to Bethesda Academy and Pee Dee Academy, the two teams that played for the state championship.
Dillon Christian won’t have to worry about either one of them this season. Following SCISA’s bi-annual reclassification, DSC will be playing Class A football for the next two years.
“That’s really where we need to be,” Alphin said of the Warriors, who will be playing in a region with Lee Academy, Carolina Academy and Clarendon Hall.
Alphin will call the defense, a position he held before moving into the role of head coach. Landry Collins returns as the offensive coordinator, while Jameson Stallings will coach both the offensive and defensive lines as well as serve as the run game coordinator.
Charlie Wright returns as an assistant, and Samuel Gibson will be the statistics analyst.
“I feel good about the team,” Alphin said. “We had a team camp where we did some conditioning, but the main thing was team bonding. All of the sophomores we had last year will be juniors this year. I think everyone is on board. The buy-in has never been bigger.”
Dillon Christian will play a scrimmage at Thomas Sumter Academy on July 30 before playing in a scrimmage with Lee and Pee Dee on Augusts 7. The Warriors will play in a jamboree at Florence Christian School on August 14 before returning to FCS the following week for their season opener on August 21.
Ryan Sampson will return as the boys basketball head coach after leading the Warriors to a 9-12 record in his first season. There will be a new girls head coach in Sarah Grace Lee. She is the daughter of Bo Stone, the man Sampson succeeded, and he will be her assistant coach.
Tony Blackmon will be back for baseball, while Jennier Easterling and Kelly Jacobs will coach volleyball together again.
“I think it’s looking up,” Alphin said of DCS athletics. “We’re consistently improving facilities; the alumni association is involved in multiple projects. The buy-in is there from the community, alumni, players and coaches.”
