Former LMA head coach, Sumter assistant Austin Floyd joins Manning's football staff

Manning – As Reggie Kennedy prepares for his eighth season as the football head coach for Manning High School, he will do so with some newcomers to his staff.

Austin Floyd, the former Laurence Manning Academy head coach who spent the past four years as the offensive coordinator for Sumter, is joining the Monarchs. Floyd will coach the offensive line and be the co-offensive coordinator. He will share the duties with the returning King Cutter, who will coach tight ends and H backs.

“Austin Floyd is coming over from Sumter High and bringing a lot of championship experience with him,” Kennedy said. Floyd, who was 25-10 and led the Swampcats to the SCISA AAA state title game on two occasions in his three years, made the move after Sumter head coach Mark Barnes decided to retire.

Cutter will be calling plays during games. Gregg King is back as the running backs coach as well as handling the strength program, Marcus Lloyd will coach the wide receivers, and Calvin Giles-McClary Jr. will coach the quarterbacks.

Kennedy, an All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference linebacker during his playing days at South Carolina State in the late 1980s, will call the defense. Dontavis Miller will coach the linebackers, Kevin Miller the outside linebackers, Marco Thompson the safeties, Calvin McClary the cornerbacks and Craig Hatcher the defensive line.

Hatcher returns to Manning after spending one season on the staff at Laurence Manning. 

“We are glad to have Craig back with us, and he will be an asset to us on the defensive side of the ball,” Kennedy said.

Dontavis Miller will be the special teams coordinator and will also serve as the junior varsity head coach.

Maria Player and newcomer Brittney Cothran will be the athletic trainers.

“Brittney Cothran is an addition to our medical staff and will be an asset to our athletic department,” Kennedy said,. “We welcome all of our newcomers and we’re looking forward to working with them.”

Kennedy likes the coaching staff he has put together.

“I feel really good about my coaching staff and the addition of the newcomers,” he said,. “This staff has a lot of experience and knows what it takes to win. I am looking forward to working with this coaching staff this season.”

After enduring a winless season in 2020 during COVID-19 and winning just twice the following year, Kennedy has had Manning on an upward trajectory over the past four years. The Monarchs have a 37-12 record during that time, have reached the third round of the AA state playoffs the last two years and went 9-4 last season.

Kennedy is pleased with what he’s seen from his team as it prepares for its season opener on August 21.

“We had an outstanding offseason and summer workouts so far,” he siad. “The players are buying in and working hard. We participated in the USC (University of South Carolina) 7-on-7 and had several 11-on-11 workouts this summer. I can see us getting better each time we compete against someone else. 

“One thing we are working on this summer and during the preseason is to develop some depth.”

Manning will play host to a pair of 4-team scrimmages at Ramsey Stadium. The first will be on August 6, the second on August 10. The Monarchs will host the FTC Jamboree on August 14.

Kennedy is once again the athletic director for Clarendon County School District as well as being the site athletic

director for Manning.

           He has two new head coaches of programs in place, but they are familiar faces. Kevin Miller will be the boys basketball head coach, while King will coach the baseball team.

           Miller takes over for Dr. Shawn Johnson, who also happens to be the district superintendent. Kennedy said Johnson stepped down because the two jobs were stretching him then.

Having a more-than-capable replacement available in Miller surely made the decision easier. Miller was the head coach at fellow district school Scott’s Branch for four seasons. He guided the Eagles to Class A state championship games in 2022 and 2023, the final two in a run of four straight title game appearances.

           Miller inherits a team that went 13-13 and lost in the first round of the state playoffs. However, Manning only lost one key contributor to graduation.

           Justin Johnson is back for his third year in charge of the girls basketball program. The Monarchs went 9-17 last season and won three region contests after getting just five wins, just one of them in a region contest, in his first year.

           Like the boys team, the Manning girls lost just one major contributor from last season.

           Catherine Mahoney returns as the softball coach. She led Manning to a 9-12 record and a berth in the state playoffs where it went 0-2.

           “We started off strong and made the playoffs, but it didn’t go as we wanted,” said Mahoney, whose All-Region 7-AA player was Shayden Epps. “We lost two strong seniors that we have to replace for next season, but I am looking forward to a successful season next year.”

           Dontavis Miller will coach both the boys and girls track and field teams. He led the Monarchs to a fifth-place finish in the AA boys state meet and their first region title in at least a decade.

           Sonia Daniels returns as the volleyball head coach, Deizmond Kelly-Gaskins will be the cheer coach, Richard Scheider returns to head up wrestling, Ryan Glossum will coach boys soccer, and Holly McCabe will once again coach girls tennis.

           Kennedy is still looking to fill vacancies for boys and girls cross country and boys golf.