Conway, NMB, St. James make football coaching hires. Here are the details
Conway and North Myrtle Beach high schools are hiring familiar names for their head football coaching jobs.
North Myrtle Beach is bringing back former coach Perry Woolbright to lead the Chiefs’ program, while Conway is hiring former Aynor head coach Jody Jenerette to lead the Tigers.
St. James also filled its football vacancy with the hire of Lexington assistant coach Stephen Cagle.
All hires were made official at Monday’s Horry County School District board meeting.
Second stint for Woolbright at NMB
Woolbright is leaving Clover High School for his second stint as head coach at North Myrtle Beach. He replaces Greg Hill, who resigned in November after four seasons.
Woolbright was the Chiefs’ head coach from 2010-13 and had a nine-win season in his final year and a trip to the second round of the playoffs. That was NMB’s most victories in a season since 2002.
Woolbright said Monday night that people reached out a while back but didn’t really start considering it until after Christmas break. He said a big part of the move was that his mother and father live in the area and wouldn’t have to drive back and forth to Clover on Friday nights for games.
“When I took Clover, I had no plans to move, but, you know, opportunity to kind of get closer to my parents, be in the area I’ve been in before, a school I’ve coached at before. That doesn’t really happen too much,” Woolbright said. “If something was going to happen with me, it needs to be now and so it’s kind of the timing.”
After North Myrtle Beach, Woolbright worked at Batesburg-Leesville, Lexington and Clover, where he has been since 2023. He led B-L to a pair of region championships and Class 2A title game in 2016.
Woolbright has won 100 games and five region championships during his coaching career.
North Myrtle Beach went 3-8 this past season and lost in the first round of the playoffs. NMB’s last winning season came in 2020. But Woolbright said the program is in a better position than the first time he took over there.
“After I left, Blair Hardin did a great job here and Matt Reel too keeping it going. And coach Hill’s done a good job here,” Woolbright said. “So I definitely don’t think it’s, starting over where I did the first time.
“Hopefully, I can keep my job here for a long time and, and be here, for a while and kind of get this program back on track. You know, keep it as a consistent program, year in, year out.”
Woolbright said he will meet with the team on Tuesday and start the process of putting together a coaching staff. He said he will go back and forth between Clover and NMB for now.
The Chiefs are dropping down from Class 5A Division II to Class 4A as part of the 2026-28 S.C. High School League realignment. They’ll be in Region 7-4A with Conway, Myrtle Beach, South Florence, St. James, West Florence and Wilson.
Jenerette looks to turn around Conway program
Jenerette is becoming a head coach again after spending last season as an offensive coordinator at North Myrtle Beach. He was a candidate for the Chiefs’ opening.
Jenerette replaces Josh Pierce, who was fired after three seasons. Jenerette was a candidate for the Conway job in 2023 but pulled his name out of the running, according to My Horry News.
Jenerette said Monday night that he had unfinished business in 2023 at West Florence, and it wasn’t the right time . But after a year of not being a head coach and getting to come back to a program he always loved, it was the perfect situation.
“I’ve kind of caught a second wind, and I just can’t wait to get going,” Jenerette said. “.... I felt like it was the time because it’s just a spot I’ve always wanted to be at. Conway is still Conway, man. I think he’s gotten a bad rap lately. But there’s still guys that can run, there’s still guys that want to hit. There’s still guys that are physical.
“And, you know, I think it’s my job to kind of go bring that out of them now.”
Jenerette was an assistant at Conway for six years and spent 13 seasons as Aynor’s head coach from 2005-17. He left Aynor for West Florence and was there until 2024. He won a region title in his first season with the Knights.
Conway went 2-9 last season and hasn’t won more than four games in a season since 2017.
Jenerette has won 111 games during his 20 seasons as a head coach. He will look to rebuild a Conway program that hasn’t had a winning season after Chuck Jordan left in 2017 following a successful run that included four state championship appearances and nine region titles from 1983-2017.
Jenerette said the first order of business will be getting his new players to buy into the weight room before they begin talking about X’s and O’s. There also will be the part of putting his staff together, which he hopes to do in the next several weeks.
Jenerette said his staff will be made up of some of the guys currently on staff plus bring guys who he has been connected to over the years.
Conway is moving down from Class 5A Division II to Class 4A for the 2026-28 school years.
“Everybody else got to, got to get up to that standard, and, you know, obviously we’re not there yet,” Jenerette said. “But you know, you never know what can happen when you start working with the kids. ... This could be a special place.”
Cagle takes over at St. James
Cagle goes to St. James and replaces Tommy Norwood, who stepped down last month after eight seasons.
This is Cagle’s second head coaching job and the 33-year-old will be one of the youngest head coaches in the state. He was the head coach at Ben Lippen in 2021 before leaving to become the offensive coordinator at Dorman under head coach Dustin Curtis.
Cagle, 32, followed Curtis back to Lexington High a year later after Curtis took the head coaching position at his alma mater. He was the offensive coordinator under Curtis and the Wildcats’ quarterbacks coach in 2025 under Stewart Young this year.
Cagle said Curtis was asked by St. James athletic director Collin Liggett about potential candidates for the job and he gave him Cagle’s name. After back-to-back days of interviews, he was offered the job the next day.
“We’re excited and ready to get down there, ready to get rolling,” Cagle said. “St. James is a place that’s never probably been really known for football. Now, we get a chance to, to change that narrative and to impact young people.”
St. James went 4-7 this past season and lost in the first round of the Class 5A Division II playoffs. The Sharks’ last winning season was in 2015 when they went 7-5. St. James will be dropping to Class 4A next year from Class 5A Division II this year.
Cagle was the 2011 Class 3A Player of the Year and was a North-South selection during his senior season at A.C. Flora before going to Charleston Southern. He spent four years as an assistant for Dean Howell at White Knoll High School and was the Timberwolves’ offensive coordinator for three seasons before landing at Ben Lippen.
Cagle said the experience of coaching at bigger schools like White Knoll, Dorman and Lexington will help him at St. James. He also credits coaches like Curtis, Howell and his father Mark as helping him in his coaching career. Mark Cagle coached at White Knoll, AC Flora and Gilbert and Stephen will try to get his father on staff with him.
Cagle will meet with St. James players on Tuesday and is hopeful he will be down there permanently sometime next month, if he is able to get released from his contract at Lexington.
Cagle said he plans to implement a shotgun-style option attack on offense and multiple formations on defense.
“But we’re, we’re gonna be a shotgun team that, that utilizes option principles and, let us play fast and try to get after people,” Cagle said.
SC Football Coaching Openings
School — Former Coach — New Coach
AC Flora — Ken Floyd — TBA
Belton-Honea Path — Russell Blackston — TBA
Chapin — Ryan Cole — TBA
Clover — Perry Woolright — TBA
Colleton County — Adam Kinloch — TBA
Conway — Josh Pierce — Jody Jenerette
Goose Creek — Jason Winstead — TBA
Green Sea Floyds — Patrick Martin — TBA
Lake Wylie — (School opens in 2026) — N/A — Nick Pelham
Liberty — Paul Sutherland — Bobby Ruff
McCormick — Leroy Collier — TBA
Marion — Brian Hennecy — TBA
May River — Richard Bonneville — TBA
Ninety-Six — Matthew Bennett — TBA
North Myrtle Beach — Greg Hill — Perry Woolbright
St. James — Tommy Norwood — Stephen Cagle
Sumter — Mark Barnes — TBA
Union County — Quinnon Isom — Bryan Robinson
Wagener-Salley — Blaze Gillespie — TBA
Whale Branch — Willie White (interim) — TBA
White Knoll — Nick Pelham — TBA
This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 7:25 PM.
