Photos by the Carolina Panthers
By Thomas Grant Jr.
Since 1997, the Carolina Panthers have recognized high school football coaches from both sides of the Carolinas.
Tom Knotts of Dutch Fork and Aaron Brand of Irmo are past honorees of the team’s GMC Coach of the Week program. Each week during the regular season, the team has selected a head football coach, regardless of classification, based on impact to the program, school and community.
This past season, Ridge View head coach Derek Howard was among the Palmetto State head coaches selected as Coach of the Week honorees.
On Sunday, he and four other South Carolina head coaches were recognized prior to Carolina’s kickoff against Seattle.
Joining Howard at Bank of America Stadium for the pregame tunnel run while carrying a commemorative football were Adam Hastings (Indian Land), Liner (Greenwood), Drew Marlowe (South Florence) and Reggie Shaw (J.F. Byrnes).
Howard just completed his fourth season with the Blazers with an 8-5 record. A graduate of Morehouse College, he has spent the last eight of his 20 years in high school football as a head coach.
As part of the Coach of the Week program, the schools of each coach received a $1,000 donation from the Panthers.
