New Williamsburg football head coach Will Furse happy with staff
Jada Cox to succeed Pat Wildes as softball head coach; search ongoing for baseball coach
Kingstree – Although Will Furse has had a relationship with all of his assistant coaches on the Williamsburg Academy football staff, there is a bit of a different dynamic involved. After all, Furse is the new head coach for the Stallions, meaning he is ultimately the one in charge.
However, with a spring practice under its belt and the summer workouts now in, Furse believes his coaching staff has pulled together quite well.
“I really think we’re coming together well as a staff,” said Furse, who came to Williamsburg after one season as the head coach and athletic director at Lee Academy. “We’ve had a really good summer working with the athletes. We’ve all worked together in the past, either playing for someone or having coached with me in the past. Things have gone smoothly thus far.”
Furse inherits a staff in which each member coached under former head coach Tyler Boyd, who took the head job at his alma mater, Lamar High School. One of those will be Ken Kellahan, who will be the defensive coordinator while coaching the secondary and offensive line.
Kellahan, who won a state title as the Williamsburg head coach himself, was Furse’s head coach when Kellahan was the head coach at Laurence Manning Academy. Furse was also a member of Kellahan’s coaching staff at LMA.
John Floyd will be in charge of the defensive linemen and tight ends, while Chase McFaddin will be the junior varsity head coach and coach wide receivers. Sam Plowden will be in charge of the running backs, and Britton Morris will coach linebackers and the offensive line.
Williamsburg had high participation in the summer workouts, and that afforded the coaches the opportunity to put in a lot of work in regards to what the Stallions want to do this season.
“Our main goal is to get the kids showing up to lift weights,” Furse said. “When you have that you’re able to have more practice sessions. It’s not just lifting and running.
“Defensively, all of our base stuff is in. What we want to do in th8e passing game is in, and we/ve been able to fine tune what we want to do in the running game. When practice starts (which was on July 24), we’ll be ahead of the game.”
Williamsburg has played for a state title in each of the past four seasons, the first two under Don
Shelley and the two most recent seasons under Boyd. The Stallions played for the SCISA AA state title
the first three years, winning it in 2022. They played for the Class A crown in 2024, losing to Thomas
Heyward Academy 23-8 in the state championship game to finish with a 10-2 record.
Boyd was 22-3 in his two seasons as head coach.
Furse was 3-7-1 in his one season at Lee. The Cavaliers started the season 3-1-1 before
losing their final six games. That left Furse with a career record of 22-14-1.
Furse led Laurence Manning to two AAAA state championship games in his two seasons in charge of the program. Furse was 19-7 at LMA, with four of those losses coming to now 8-time defending state champion Hammond.
Furse also became the athletic director at Williamsburg, and he said that transition has been a smooth one as well.
“It’s been very steady, about what I expected. We’re still having some problems with our scheduling because we had a couple of teams that dropped (from SCISA Class A) to 8-man. I’m trying to find someone to fill those spots. I think I can get one, but ideally you want 10 games.”
Furse’s first game as Williamsburg head coach will come on August 22 in a home game against
Thomas Sumter Academy.
Another part of Furse’s AD duties is finding a new baseball head coach. Boyd was the Williamsburg head coach for 10 years.
Williamsburg will have a new head coach in softball as well as veteran Pat Wildes stepped down from the post. He is being replaced by Jada Cox, who helped him with the team this past season.
She started full time at the school last spring,” Furse said. “She played college softball (at Columbia International University) and is very knowledgeable. Coach Wildes was ready to step away, and he was the natural successor and is ready to roll with it.”
One of the Williamsburg head coaches with whom Furse is very familiar is Will Epps, who will be in his second season both as the girls basketball head coach and the volleyball head coach. Like Kellahan, Furse played for Epps and coached with him at Laurence Manning.
“Will Epps is a pehonomeal coach, Furse said. “I’ve been very impressed with both the volleyball and softball workouts this summer. Those girls are committed and working hard. I’m very excited about what the season holds. I can't wait to see them get positive results from that.”
Kevin Burrows returns for his ninth season as the boys basketball head coach.
“He’s been here several years now, and he’s a great guy with a strong knowledge of the game of basketball,” Furse said. “We’ve got a lot of guys returning off of last year's team, so I expect them to be very competitive this year.”
Wildes will continue as the boys and girls cross country coach. McFaddin will be the boys and girls track and field coach, and Lucie Ann Smunk will be the cheerleading coach.
