The Gilbert Indians have their next athletic director and football coach to lead the school through its transition to 4A play and beyond. 

Gilbert will split the positions for the first time in a long time, Gilbert High School Principal David Dixon said during a Feb. 21 press conference. Nicole Amick will serve as the program’s athletic director, while Ozzie Exume will be the school’s next football coach. 

“Today's a new day in Gilbert High Athletics and we could not be happier with the direction that we're going,” Dixon said. “We have found two extraordinary leaders that we cannot be more happy with and more excited about in the future. Gilbert High is kind of forging a path for Lexington School District 1.”

The two replace former athletic director and football coach Chad Leaphart, who departed the job after eight seasons to become the new Lexington County School District 1 athletic director. 

The hires are both new milestones for the district. Exume is now the first Black head football coach in district history, and Amick becomes Lexington 1’s first female athletic director. 

Both candidates previously served other roles in Gilbert’s athletic program. Exume was an offensive line coach at the school and the head basketball coach. Amick was the AD at Gilbert’s middle school, head boys golf coach and head JV volleyball coach. 

“With these kids, it’s very important, they want somebody that's going to be authentic and real, and that's me,” Exume said. “These ninth graders now were my second graders my first year as a teacher, and so, I've seen some of this full circle.”

Exume has a background in football. He played in high school and the next level at Newberry College. He said the opportunity to stay at Gilbert and transition to the football coach’s role made it an easy decision. 

“I will be honest, I think that's maybe the most important part of all this,” Exume said. “If you go somewhere brand new and having to run a team and learn these kids and learn these coaches and learn all this new stuff about your community, it may feel overwhelming. But I don't feel overwhelmed … I've spent these eight years trying to truly learn what's important and held dear here, and I think I've learned that.”

With Gilbert set to move to 4A starting in the fall, Exume will have to get his team prepared for tougher competition. He said he’s not worried, and Gilbert will still be successful in the future. 

“We're gonna be fine. Football's football, and 4A doesn't scare me or scare us at all,” Exume said. “We've played some 4A schools, some 5A  schools over these eight years, and we won those games. So, moving up to 4A was just part of that next process of growing as a school.”

Amick is expecting that growth to continue. Gilbert is already looking at adding more teams and upgrading current facilities, she said. The magnitude and pace of these changes are part of Gilbert’s decision to split the two positions. 

“Being able to devote that time, being able to be with our coaches, being at practices, being at all the games that we need to be at and just giving 110% to our staff and our students, is the most important thing for us,” Amick said. “The split just allows for you to focus solely on that.”

Amick has witnessed the rapid growth of Gilbert firsthand. Besides her previous jobs at the school, Amick is a Gilbert native and class of 2005 graduate. She was a student when the school was in 2A and will now be in charge of overseeing it join the state’s second-largest classification. 

“This was the only place I wanted to come back and teach,” She said. “I knew that my passion for athletics and the way this community and the school just helped grow me as a student-athlete and as a young adult and now an adult, I just want to give that back to this community that's helped raise me.”

Gilbert has started the process of finding replacements to fill Amick and Exume’s previous positions. While doing that, Amick is focused on setting the foundation for a culture that will thrive in 4A and potentially beyond. 

“We're not really planning for 4A because we know that's not a stopping spot for us for very long,” Amick said. “We're planning now for 5A because we know that's where we're going, and that's what we're looking forward to. Because if we plan for the 5A, 4A is going to take care of itself. That's kind of my philosophy.”