Coach Bryce Lybrand
Beaufort High School Football
story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER photos by ANDREA FABIAN
“WINNING is not everything — but making the EFFORT to win is.”
This past year has been a truly fantastic year for the Beaufort High School football team as they have worked hard, played harder, and ultimately made their way to the top. The coaches and the players have seen their hard work pay off and have seen the community rally around them.
Coach Bryce Lybrand grew up in Greenwood, South Carolina. He attended Clemson University, where he was a student assistant in 2007 and 2008 to Coach Dabo Swinney. In 2008, he stepped into the position of interim head coach at Clemson. After Coach Lybrand graduated from Clemson University, he went to Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee. He was the graduate assistant coach, working with Ken Sparks, who currently holds the title for the most wins as a coach in NCAA Division II history.
After these experiences, Coach Lybrand decided that he wanted to start working with high schoolers. He worked at Fort Dorchester High School in Charleston for four years; Wando High School in Mount Pleasant for one year and was an offensive coordinator in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a year before landing in Beaufort. He came here in 2017 to work with DeVonte Holloman (University of South Carolina graduate and former player for the Dallas Cowboys), who was the head coach at Beaufort High School. Coach Lybrand stepped into the offensive coordinator role under Holloman for one year, before being promoted to head coach when Holloman moved to take the head coaching position at South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina, his alma mater.
Coach Lybrand chose football as a career because it provided him with the opportunity to do something he loved every day.
The last time that the Beaufort High School football team went to the State Championship game was in 2007. That year, the field was dominated by young men who are now legendary players in Beaufort High history: Devin Taylor, Jimmie Legree, Justin Parker, Stanley Davis, Adrene Byas, Michael Ginn, Seth Konoza, Bran Gonzalez, and two players who have since passed away, Andre Carpenter (2016) and Antwan Smalls (2021).
When Coach Lybrand got the position as head coach, he and his staff surveyed the team in front of them. They truly believed that this would be the group of young men who could make a good run. They made very conscious decisions each year, starting four freshmen and five sophomores the first year. It was going to be challenging initially, but they knew that they could make it. They had a long-term view on what would be best for the program, and they kept their gaze focused on that.
Through the ups and downs of the last few years, including the “COVID year,” the coaches and the players developed a tremendous sense of confidence that they were good enough to play against any team and win — if they played well. They carried this into the playoffs, and they went to Myrtle Beach and won against a team that rarely loses at home. This year, the whole senior group worked hard with players like Alvin Wilson, Tyler Haley, and Amariee Morris, putting their all into every game.
It was a fun season. Hosting the Lower State Championship game created a fantastic atmosphere with so much excitement from the crowd. The pinnacle of the year was the State Championship game and the community support leading up to it. “It was an amazing experience,” Coach Lybrand says. All of the signs and people lined up on Bay Street — the day of the big game — was exceptional and something that the coaches and players will never forget. This type of community support is so important when it comes to the team’s morale. Knowing that the community is rooting for them pushes the team to play harder and put in the work. It also provides them with the opportunity to prove themselves even further, not just as good players but as good community members. These players are all 14 to 18 years old. Seeing the entire town come out for a game or talking about it around town gives them the desire to represent the community well.
In the upcoming year, the goal is to be a team that continues to go to championship games and ultimately wins them. The team has been there now. They’ve seen all the bright lights and played on the biggest stage that there is when it comes to high school football in South Carolina. The next step is to win. They want to be a team that everyone is talking about when it comes to winning those big games. Coach Lybrand sees kids on the team as standout players in the coming years: Kacy Fields, Daryl Depass, Eamon Smalls, Colton Phares, and Mcleod Reichel. There are a lot of young men coming back to the team that the coaches are excited about.
The coaching staff consists of Coach Lybrand, Logan Powell as Offensive Coordinator, Rob Gorrell as Defensive Coordinator, and Coby Peeler as the Linebacker Coach.
Coach Lybrand appreciates everything the community has provided to the team this year. He hopes that everyone knows that “the coaches aren’t just out there to train good football players but also produce good young men. It’s a lot bigger than wins and losses. They want the kids always to see the big picture, one that is bigger than the game of football.”
