Charlotte-based football coach recognized for military service and post-military veterans work
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Jay Alverson, executive director of the S.C. Military Veterans Hall of Fame (SCMVHOF), will be formally awarded the University of South Carolina (USC) Outstanding Veteran Alumni Award on gameday, Saturday, Nov. 7, beginning with an awards breakfast on the USC campus and followed by halftime recognition during the USC-Texas A&M football game.
The lofty award recognizes Alverson – an offensive line coach at South Mecklenburg High School (SMHS) in neighboring Charlotte, N.C. – for his leadership as SCMVHOF executive director, as former chair of the USC Veterans Alumni Council, and for his distinguished military service both as a veteran U.S. Marine and a retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant whose highly specialized work as a USAF intelligence analyst and an intelligence integration-lead, led him to the Afghanistan theater of operations three times during the war.
A USC graduate (speech communications 1998), Alverson has served as offensive line coach at SMHS since 2024. He’s been coaching full-time since 2016 and as a volunteer coach since 2000. He also serves as a Title IX investigator for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
As previous chair of the USC Veterans Alumni Council, Alverson was largely responsible for the campuswide installation of plaques honoring USC alumni who lost their lives in service-to-country. The plaques have been prominently displayed at Williams-Brice Stadium, Founders Park (the Gamecock baseball field and stadium), and the now-historic 70-year-old Russell House University Union building.
Alverson is a S.C. Military Veterans Hall of Fame inductee: Class of 2025.
“It is no surprise to me that Jay Alverson is being so-honored by our alma mater in this way,” said retired USMC Col. Steve Vitali, a 1976 graduate of USC and himself a SCMVHOF inductee: Class of 2026. “His tireless work has borne much fruit both for our beloved university and for our S.C. Military Veterans Hall of Fame.”
Vitali adds: “He’s also a fellow Marine and his leadership as a tireless advocate for veterans and as a much-loved, much-revered football coach is a reflection of that fact.”
In addition to Alverson’s receipt of the 2026 Outstanding Veteran Alumni award, USC is awarding six other recipients top alumni awards; including Dr. Walter Edgar (recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award), Jim Stuckey (Distinguished Alumni award), Elizabeth Scott Moïse (Bethea Volunteer Service Award), Tayloe Harding (Honorary Life Member award), Jade-Li English (Outstanding Black Alumni award), and Herman Phillips (Outstanding Young Alumni award).
– W. Thomas Smith Jr., a veteran USMC infantry leader and retired S.C. Military Department officer, is a S.C. Military Veterans Hall of Fame inductee: Class of 2025.
