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Bryant McNeal to North High School as new HC
Jun 12, 2015, 7:09 PM
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NORTH - As the North Eagles look to soar higher in high school athletics in 2015 and beyond, there will be new leadership out in front as they take flight.
With third-year athletic director and head football coach Paul Calvert moving on from North High School, two second-year Eagles coaches have been named to fill the vacated positions. Keith Williams has been named athletic director, while Bryant McNeal has been named head football coach.
Williams has served as head baseball coach and assistant football coach at North, and McNeal has been defensive coordinator in football and head girls basketball coach.
“I was told the news today, and I’m real excited about being athletic director here at North,” Williams said on Wednesday evening. “Coach Calvert did a great job and I want to continue to make improvements here for the athletic department.
“I really want to get more interest from the community and build up the athletic booster club.”
It can only help that the North football program is moving in the right direction. After posting two no-win seasons and a 1-win season, the Eagles squad had a 2-8 record in 2013 and a 4-7 record in 2014. So it’s obvious that, having just led North to its first playoff appearance since 2007, Calvert is leaving the football program pointing upward.
Other North sports are moving in the right direction too. As head baseball coach this past year, Williams led a team that had a 6-10 record, bettering the last three seasons’ records of 4-12, 4-12 and 2-14. Both girls and boys basketball teams at North are coming off a solid season, while track finished second in the region, after posting consecutive region championships.
Back on the football field, McNeal is ready to instill a winning attitude and build a winning tradition. He has been defensive coordinator at North the past two seasons. Prior to joining the staff for the royal blue and white, he was an assistant at Swansea.
“We want to continue to build on what we did this past year (4 wins and a playoff appearance),” McNeal said. “We’ve got a good group of young guys coming up. Now it’s about getting them in the weight room and in the passing league and getting them better. We look at programs like Lamar and Williston-Elko, and we want to be among those good programs that make playoffs all the time.”
McNeal, a former standout defensive end at Swansea and at Clemson University, knew he had a good bit of work in front of him two seasons ago. A total of nine players showed up for the first fall football practice. Since then, the numbers for workouts and practices for the team have stayed steady in the 19 to 22-player range.
“It’s been all about coming in and getting guys to commit to practice every day,” McNeal said. “They have to prioritize – God, family, schoolwork and practice. When they all do that, and set goals while believing we can reach those goals, things will get even better here in the football program.”
McNeal, a fourth-round pick of the Denver Broncos in the 2003 NFL Draft, says it’s been a big change that he no longer has to search out North players to encourage them to do workouts for football.
“Now, they come find me and ask me about working out and how to get better,” he said. McNeal was a standout high school player at Swansea, who came to Clemson in 1998, as part of Tommy West’s last recruiting class for the Tigers. In 2002, he led the Tigers with eight sacks in his senior campaign, and was selected to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference second team. He later spent time with the Broncos, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders.
In 2009, McNeal attempted to get back into the NFL, attending South Carolina State’s Pro Day to work out for scouts. He gave it one last shot before moving on with his Sports Management degree from Clemson to pursue coaching opportunities.
Now, McNeal has the opportunity to lead the North Eagles to new heights.
And every improvement in each North sport will be welcomed by Williams, who grew up in Marlboro County, where he played high school football for one of South Carolina’s all-time great coaches, Reed Charpia (235 career wins).
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