Erik Kimrey
News emerged from Baylor School on Wednesday that Erik Kimrey would be introduced as the newest football coach for the Red Raiders and that word became official during a press conference in the lobby of the Luke Worsham Wrestling Arena Thursday morning.
Chris Angel began his tenure as Baylor’s next headmaster last summer and he was the one to introduce Kimrey, whom he had the chance to work with when he was the Head of School at Hammond School in Columbia, S.C.
“It is my honor and pleasure to introduce Erik Kimrey as Baylor’s next football coach and I can’t wait for you to get to know him,” Angel began his announcement.
“We worked together for 17 years at Hammond as he was the head football coach there and won a dozen state titles during that time, including six in a row. We all know that football is a challenging sport, but it’s a dream come true for us to have him on board at Baylor.
“I value how he develops young men and I know from my own experience what he is capable of doing. We had a national search for our next coach, but it was an easy choice picking him,” Angel added.
“I’m thrilled and excited to have this opportunity. I worked with Dr. Herb Barks at Hammond and he brought me to Chattanooga 15 years ago to show Baylor to me. I made the decision at that point the only place I would leave Hammond for would be either the University of South Carolina or Baylor School.
“Columbia will always be home to me and my family, but we’re thrilled to be in Chattanooga with a great opportunity to develop new relationships with folks here. Baylor was an easy sell to me as this school offers a lot to its students and to the community.
“This is a fresh start for our family and I can’t wait to take what I learned last year at South Carolina and apply it here,” the 42-year-old coach added.
Kimrey graduated from Dutch Fork High School in Columbia where he was the quarterback for his father Bill. He was South Carolina’s Offensive Player of the Year as a senior before enrolling at South Carolina, where he played for the legendary Lou Holtz.
He graduated from South Carolina with a degree in math.
In addition to winning 12 state titles while coaching the Skyhawks, he compiled an impressive record of 194 wins against just 20 losses, becoming the youngest and fastest coach in South Carolina history to win 100 games. He’s also the only one to ever win six straight state titles.
Kimrey is married to the former Erica Russell and they have three children ages 15, 13 and 10 named Kaitlyn Dean, Karis and Ty.
Kimrey replaces Phil Massey, who resigned his position at Baylor in December.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)