These high school football coaches make over $100,000 annually in South Carolina

High school football coaching salaries are on the rise in South Carolina.

There are 33 varsity head football coaches earning more than $100,000 annually at public schools in the Palmetto State, according to a review of salaries by The State. Of those 33 coaches, 12 are also the school’s athletic director.

The number of coaches earning above $100,000 is more than double the last time The State conducted a similar review in 2016 — when 15 coaches statewide were making six figures annually.

▪ Search the full list of South Carolina head coach salaries here.

Here are those public school coaches making $100,000 or more in the 2022-23 school year, ranked with the highest salaries first. Figures reflect total compensation and include such things as a teaching job’s base salary/years of experience, national board certification, master’s degrees and supplements for such additional duties as being athletic director.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misstated the salary for Brookland-Cayce coach Rusty Charpia. That figure as been adjusted accordingly.

Jerry Brown, Berkeley High

Salary: $130,810

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Berkeley

Coaching history: Brown is in his second stint as Berkeley head coach after leading the Stags to state championships in 1994, 1996 and 2009. He also has coached at Spring Valley, Batesburg-Leesville, Northside Christian and Wade Hampton (H) and is a few victories shy of 300 for his career.

Jeffrey Murdock, Woodmont High

Salary: $119,062.33

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Greenville

Coaching history: Murdock has been head coach at Woodmont since 2020 after spending time as an assistant coach there. He also was head coach at Crescent and Ware Shoals high schools.

Tom Knotts, Dutch Fork High

Salary: $116,542

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Lexington-Richland 5

Coaching history: Knotts has been one of the most successful coaches in the Carolinas and the country during his more than 40 years of coaching. He has led the Silver Foxes to nine title game appearances, winning six of them, since taking over the program in 2010. Before coming to Dutch Fork, Knotts won seven state championships in North Carolina.

Scott Earley, Westside High

Salary: $114,123

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Anderson 5

Coaching history: Westside is Earley’s fourth head coaching stop after working at at Myrtle Beach, Chapin and Lexington. Earley also is the director of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl all-star game.

Dean Boyd, York High

Salary: $113,707

Also the athletic director? No

School district: York 1

Coaching history: Boyd has been head coach at York since 2019 after a 22-year run at Marlboro County. He led Marlboro to two a pair of state championships in 1998 and 2001.

Rusty Charpia, Brookland-Cayce High

Salary: $112,349

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Lexington 2

Coaching history: Charpia is in his 12th season at B-C and has led the Bearcats to 76 victories, multiple region titles and a couple trips to 3A lower state championship game. He is also the school’s baseball coach, and the Bearcats won their first region title since 2013 this past season in that sport.

Lynn Fleming, Broome High

Salary: $112,339

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Spartanburg 3

Coaching history: Fleming has been at Broome since 2017. He previously coached at Chesnee and South Florence high schools, where his teams made several postseason appearances.

Justin Gentry, Chapin High

Salary: $111,619

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Lexington-Richland 5

Coaching history: Gentry has been at Chapin for more than a decade and led the Eagles to a pair of 11-win seasons. He had a successful stint at Lake City before coming to Chapin.

Aaron Brand, Irmo High

Salary: $111,019

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Lexington-Richland 5

Coaching history: Brand is in his fourth season at Irmo and has led the Yellow Jackets to a pair of seven-win seasons and trip to 4A quarterfinals last season. Before Irmo, Brand had a successful run at Vance (now Chambers High) in North Carolina.

Russell Zehr, Cane Bay High

Salary: $110,920

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Berkeley

Coaching history: Zehr has been at Cane Bay for more than a decade as head or assistant coach.

Reggie Shaw, Byrnes High

Salary: $110,517

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Spartanburg 5

Coaching history: Shaw has been at Byrnes since 2017 and recently won his 100th career game. He spent four years as head coach at AC Flora, where he led Falcons to the 2014 Upper State semifinals. Shaw also was head coach at Ben Lippen and Blythewood high schools.

Jason Tone, TL Hanna High

Salary: $109,837

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Anderson 5

Coaching history: Tone has been at TL Hanna since 2019 after taking over for Jeff Herron. He led the Yellow Jackets to the Class 5A championship game in 2020.

Quinn McCollum, Marlboro County High

Salary: $109,543

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Marlboro

Coaching history: McCollum is in his first season as Marlboro County head coach. His previous head coaching stops included Marion and Keenan high schools. He led Keenan to its first state championship appearance in 2015.

Mark Hodge, Spartanburg High

Salary: $107,919

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Spartanburg 7

Coaching history: Hodge has been the head coach at Spartanburg since 2020. Before that, he coached at Chapman High from 2012-19 and won a pair of state titles there.

Chris Liner, Greenwood High

Salary: $107,521

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Greenwood 50

Coaching history: Liner was a former Greenwood player and assistant who was hired in 2020. He previously was head coach at Laurens and Ninety-Six high schools.

Chris Arnoult, Mid-Carolina

Salary: $107,464

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Newberry

Coaching history: Arnoult is in his fourth season at Mid-Carolina and was head coach at Chesterfield before that, winning a region title in 2015. Before Chesterfield, Arnoult was an assistant at Irmo for 20 seasons.

Marion Brown, Baptist Hill

Salary: $106,624

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Charleston

Coaching history: Brown has been head coach at Baptist Hill for more than a decade. He led Baptist Hill to the state title game in 2017. It was the first time a team from Charleston School District made the state championship game since 1991.

Blair Hardin, River Bluff High

Salary: $106,587

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Lexington 1

Coaching history: Hardin became the second coach in school history when he was hired before the 2017 season after a successful run at North Myrtle Beach. The Gators have a pair of nine-win seasons under Hardin.

Perry Woolbright, Lexington High

Salary: $106,587

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Lexington 1

Coaching history: Woolbright was hired at Lexington in 2018 after successful stints at North Myrtle Beach and Batesburg-Leesville. He led B-L to the state championship game and has had the Wildcats in the postseason almost every year.

Dustin Curtis, Dorman High

Salary: $106,336

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Spartanburg 6

Coaching history: Curtis is in his first year as Dorman head coach. He previously coached at Westwood and AC Flora high schools. Curtis led AC Flora to the 2020 Class 4A state championship.

Raymond Jennings, Darlington High

Salary: $105,637

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Darlington County

Coaching history: Jennings was hired at Darlington in 2019 and also has coached in the Midlands. He was head coach at Ridge View and assistant at Lugoff-Elgin in his more than 20 years of coaching.

Matt Reel, Boiling Springs High

Salary: $105,385

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Spartanburg 2

Coaching history: Reel is in his first season at Boiling Springs after coaching at North Myrtle Beach. He led the Chiefs to the 2020 Class 4A championship game.

Art Craig, Hanahan High

Salary: $104,399

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Berkeley

Coaching history: Craig was let go as Hanahan head coach on Sept. 14 — the school didn’t release any more details. He was a successful coach at Timberland before landing at Hanahan.

Jeff Calabrese, Hartsville

Salary: $103,969

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Darlington County

Coaching history: Calabrese turned the Red Foxes back into title contender after being hired in 2005. He led the program to multiple championship appearances and won the 2012 Class 3A title to cap off a 15-0 season.

Rodney Barr, Ridgeland-Hardeeville High

Salary: $103,620

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Jasper County

Coaching history: Barr is in his second season at Ridgeland-Hardeeville. Prior to that, he was at Scott’s Branch (one year), led Lower Richland to two region titles and also was an assistant at Wilson High School in Florence.

Greg Porter, Greenville High

Salary: $103,008.91

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Greenville

Coaching history: Porter is in his fourth season as Greenville head coach after successful stints at Southside and Hillcrest high schools. He led Hillcrest to the 2014 Class 4A Division II state championship and had Greenville in the upper state championship last year.

Marc Morris, Carolina Forest High

Salary: $102,942.80

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Horry

Coaching history: Morris has been coach at Carolina Forest since 2014 and guided the Panthers to their first 10-win season and trip to 2019 Class 5A Lower State championship. Before that, Morris won almost 100 games in two stops at Cleveland and Harnett Central high schools in North Carolina. He led Harnett Central to 2009 state championship game.

Steve LaPrad, Fort Dorchester High

Salary: $102,914

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Dorchester 2

Coaching history: LaPrad became head coach at Fort Dorchester in 2003 and has produced many college signees. The Patriots won the 2015 Class 4A Division I championship.

Grayson Howell, Pendleton High

Salary: $102,796

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Anderson 4

Coaching history: Howell is in his second season as head coach at Pendleton and was the interim coach in 2021.

Jason Farmer, Landrum High

Salary: $101,194

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Spartanburg 1

Coaching history: Farmer has been at Landrum since 2014. He was a head coach at Woodmont before that and an assistant at Spartanburg, Blue Ridge and Silver Bluff.

Robin Bacon, Spring Valley High

Salary: $101,837

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Richland 2

Coaching history: Robin Bacon was interim coach at Spring Valley in 2015 before being promoted to head coach after the season. The Vikings have had success under Bacon, who also was head coach at AC Flora for nine years.

Chad Leaphart, Gilbert High

Salary: $100,987

Also the athletic director? Yes

School district: Lexington 1

Coaching history: Leaphart is on verge of becoming the school’s all-time wins leader since coming from Swansea High and taking over at his alma mater in 2016. He led the Indians to the Class 3A Lower State championship in 2020.

Bradley Adams, Woodruff High

Salary: $100,960

Also the athletic director? No

School district: Spartanburg 4

Coaching history: Adams has been at Woodruff since 2018. Before that, he coached two seasons at Union County and six years at Georgetown.