‘This is an exciting opportunity’: Familiar face hired to lead Green Sea Floyds football
Joey Price was called to be a football coach.
Now, he’s getting another shot to take over a Grand Strand area football program, as he was approved on Monday by the Horry County School Board to become the next football coach at Green Sea Floyds.
Price has worked as an assistant coach for the past two seasons, two years ago at Whiteville (NC) and last season at Loris, where he also serves as a pastor at Cherry Hill Baptist Church. Before two seasons as an assistant, Price was the head coach at St. James.
Now, he’s tasked with leading a Trojans program that has won back-to-back Class A state championships.
“This is an exciting opportunity and one that I’m looking forward to taking on,” he said. “There are two kinds of jobs that are challenging, taking over a place that’s used to losing and taking over a place that has a winning culture. Those are different challenges, and you want to take over one that is used to winning.”
While he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to scout his team at Green Sea Floyds, Price plans to tailor his coaching style to what the Trojans do well.
“I know there are good kids returning and that they lost some really good players,” he said. “I know this going in – you’re going to want to get the ball to Jaquan Dixon as much as you can, that’s easy for a coach to figure out. We’re going to go in and look at the film to see what they did well and incorporate some of that into our style.”
In addition to Dixon, Green Sea Floyds will return Dan Johnson and Aaron Graham on offense and Xavier Edwards on the defensive line.
Price won 238 games as a head coach in North Carolina and went 2-8 in his lone season at St. James. He left the Sharks program to become a fully-ordained minister, something he didn’t feel he could do while leading a football program.
“I feel I’ve been called to be a football coach,” he said. “When I took the St. James job, I didn’t do so with the intention of leaving after one season. I had the opportunity to become an ordained minister and I didn’t feel I could do that and be a head coach at the same time. The timing was tough, because those kids at St. James were working hard and have continued to do so. I hope they win every game they play, I’ll always pull for them.”
Now that Price is cemented at Cherry Hill Baptist Church in Loris, he’s ready to take on leading arguably the state’s best program in Class A.
“(My church) wants me to continue coaching because we feel it’s an extension of our ministry,” he said. “We’re going in there to help kids, not to win or lose football games. If you work hard and do all you can to help the kids, the winning and losing takes care of itself. Coaches and players aren’t concerned about the record, just the effort.”
Throughout his career, Price has worked in churches and football fields and he sees no change from that philosophy at Green Sea Floyds. He also has worked as a strength and conditioning teacher in the past, something he hopes to continue with the Trojans.
“I think football games are won and lost in the weight room, because that’s where you put in a lot of work to get better without anyone seeing,” he said. “The weight room and the practice field are where your discipline matter. Coach (Donnie) Kiefer already did what needed to be done to turn around Green Sea (Floyds) in terms of working hard and executing on the football field. My staff just has to come in and keep it going.”
Price was a finalist for the Loris coaching vacancy, as former coach Jamie Snider was let go following a 1-9 campaign. Greg Mance of Richlands (Va) was tabbed to lead that program, leading Price to apply for the Green Sea Floyds opening, after Kiefer left for West Ashley in Charleston.