In preparation for the football season, I decided to throw in a fun wrinkle to the line of questions I like to ask coaches.

Sure, I ask about their team and the position groups and who is expected to play well and all of that stuff that creates your classic football preview content. But this year, I asked a few coaches to shed some light on what they think of some other programs in Lexington County. With so many schools playing each other in the county and so many coaches interacting with each other from school to school over the years, some get a heightened appreciation for another program that the outsider doesn’t get to appreciate the same way.

So, under the veil of anonymity, I asked a few Lexington County head football coaches what they think about some of their opponents or other programs within the county.

Dutch Fork’s Tom Knotts

“I think Coach Knotts has done an unbelievable job of not only setting the standard in our region, but setting the standard in 5A. I think every year, if you feel like you have a chance to compete for a state championship, you’re comparing yourself to them. I think he’s earned that and I think his teams play with such consistency from B-team on up to varsity that I think it’s fun to watch. It can also be demoralizing to coach against. But you know, we’re going to try to do everything we can to compete with those guys and to have a tough mentality and try to understand that at one point, Dutch Fork wasn’t there, and now they are, so things can happen if you do things the right way. Certainly, Dutch Fork has set the standard for how to play football for a long time.” - Opposing Region IV-5A coach

“Obviously, you have to admire the job Tom Knotts has done over at Dutch Fork. I mean, he was a winner when he was in North Carolina and he’s come here and you know, he’s different and he has his ways, but he wins. You got to admire what he does and you know, appreciate what he does as a coach because he does win and he’s done a great job with that program over there and they continue each year to be a contender for a state championship.” - Head coach from an opposing county school.

Gilbert’s Chad Leaphart

“I would never count out Gilbert. Coach Leaphart always does a great job over there with those guys so they’re always going to be in the mix. He runs a great program over there just with what they’ve done over the past couple of years. I know they’ve been pretty close again. Not sure what their status is with returners, but you don’t ever count out a team like Gilbert just because they’re a tough, physical group and they’ve got a great coach in Coach Leaphart.”- Opposing head coach in Lexington County
“Chad and them have done a great job at Gilbert…what they’ve done at Gilbert with the last four or five ten-win seasons since he’s been the head coach over there, they haven’t had that in a long time. What he’s been able to do there is pretty pretty amazing. He gets the most out of his guys. They got 100-something plus kids in their program which is pretty amazing.” - Opposing 3A head coach

“They’re going to compete for a conference championship every year and lower state. What he’s done the past seven or eight years has been tremendous so Chad (Leaphart) and his staff have done an amazing job.” -Opposing head coach in Lexington County

River Bluff’s Blair Hardin

“One thing I’m always impressed with at River Bluff is that their schemes are simple but they make them look complex and I think that’s a testament to their coaches and their head coach, coach Hardin. They got some great assistant coaches. I also think it’s a testament to their kids. Their kids are there every day, they’re smart and tough, they do exactly what they’re supposed to do. They run a little bit of option on offense, enough to keep you honest. On defense, they throw enough wrinkles and enough pressures to keep you honest but you know that their kids are always going to know exactly what to do. They’re not going to beat themselves…they drill a basic scheme on both offense and defense but they have enough motions and enough formations and enough different things to do that it really makes it complex when you’re trying to break them down. I think they’re one of the best coaching staffs around.”- Opposing Region IV-5A head coach.

White Knoll’s Nick Pelham

“I like White Knoll…[Pelham] taught me some things about football. He’s a 3-4 coach and does a great job. I did notice at a seven on seven we went to a few weeks ago that his guys looked bigger, they looked fitter, they looked more like football players than White Knoll has had in the past five or six years. So my scouting report on them would be that coach Pelham is an excellent, knowledgeable football coach.” - Anonymous Region IV-5A head coach.

“Nick Pelham over at White Knoll is doing a heck of a job and he started from ground zero. The proof will be in the pudding this year. I think this is gonna be his year to be very very good…he’s done a heck of a job. He took a program that was struggling and he took his lumps his first year and last year it was a difference between night and day and he’s got all those guys back so I look for them to be a pretty good contender. Maybe not with Dutch Fork, but you know, we’re all playing for second, but he’s done a heck of a job there.”- Anonymous Region IV-5A head coach