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New Lamar High School football coach Josh Pierce (second from right) smiles during Tuesday’s introductory press conference at the LHS gymnasium. Pierce was joined by his wife Morgan (left), 5-year-old son Ryan (right) and 5-month-old son Rhett.
New Lamar High School football coach Josh Pierce (left) puts a Silver Foxes hat on 5-year-old son Ryan following Tuesday’s introductory press conference at the school.
Josh Pierce (right) talks to Lamar High School players Tuesday following his introduction as the new football coach.
LAMAR, S.C. – Josh Pierce is well-versed in what football tradition means to a school and a community.
And the expectations that come with it.
His coaching background includes stops at Marlboro County, Lamar and most recently Dillon High School – all three powerhouse programs steeped in winning cultures while Pierce was there.
So when the opportunity arose to be the head coach at one of those schools, Pierce came running, he said.
The former Silver Fox defensive coordinator was introduced as the new program leader at a press conference Tuesday in the LHS gymnasium. Pierce takes over for Chad Wilkes, who resigned in January after three seasons at Lamar.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to coach at Lamar,” he said. “This is a fantastic place. And it’s a great opportunity because this program is full of history and tradition and I’m looking forward to continuing that.”
Pierce’s familiarity with the program is something Lamar Principal Dr. Marlon Thomas pointed out as being one of attributes that made him stand out.
“He definitely has a great understanding of the strengths of our program and has an understanding of the weaknesses,” Thomas said. “And he has a plan in place to address the weaknesses.
“And also one of the things that drew me close to him was he has the ability to put together a top-notch coaching staff, so we are super excited about that.”
Pierce addressed the current team and future players for the upcoming season with a simple message following the press conference:
Winning a state championship begins in the weight room.
“I’m a firm believer that champions behave like champions before they become champions,” Pierce said. “And we’ve got a long way to go before we can really nail down the little things to make us the champions that we’re capable of being.”
A lot of those were lessons learned along his career stops, most notably in Bennettsville where Pierce said he really “cut his teeth” working under Dean Boyd – the brother of legendary Lamar coach J.R. Boyd.
“I have a lot of connections to that family,” Pierce said. “I have a lot respect for coach Boyd…I have a lot of respect for the way he’s done things here and I plan to get back to more toward how he handled discipline and really just coaching these kids to be tough.
“I believe that’s the way he did things and that’s really what I want to hang my hat on here at Lamar.”
The Silver Foxes have always been a defensive-oriented team, Pierce said, and that suits his style of play just fine.
“Philosophically, because our kids are going to have to play both ways, we’re going to have to keep it extremely simple,” he said. “My biggest thing is I want the kids to play fast and relentless — off the ball, to the ball and after the ball.
“…I do think we’re going to have to throw the ball around a little bit. I do think the quick passing game has to be an extension of our run game.”
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New Lamar High School football coach Josh Pierce (second from right) smiles during Tuesday’s introductory press conference at the LHS gymnasium. Pierce was joined by his wife Morgan (left), 5-year-old son Ryan (right) and 5-month-old son Rhett.
New Lamar High School football coach Josh Pierce (left) puts a Silver Foxes hat on 5-year-old son Ryan following Tuesday’s introductory press conference at the school.
Josh Pierce (right) talks to Lamar High School players Tuesday following his introduction as the new football coach.
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