High School Football Coaches still in the NCHSAA Playoffs, with Guilford County Connections, as we hit Round Three/Week Three of the playoffs(Former Burlington Cummings coach Dave Gutshall announces retirement today)

Here are some of the coaches, that are still coaching their teams, entering Round Three of the NCHSAA Football Playoffs, and we find that these coaches have distinct Guilford County coaching, or playing connections….

What about the Thomasville High School head football coach Kevin Gillespie? He took the Page Pirates to the 2011 4-AA State Championship, and he led his Pirates to two more 4-AA Championship appearances…Three total trips to the State Title game for Coach Gillespie, while at Page HS…Also an assistant coach at Thomasville is Dickie Cline, the former head coach at Ragsdale, Ledford, and Kernersville Glenn…
This week in the 1-A West:#6 Thomasville (9-2) at #3 Mitchell (10-2)

The top-ranked team in the 1-A West has a coach that has been around for a lot of years, in coach Burton Cates…He was an assistant coach way back when for ER, when Donnie Baxter was the head coach, and Alan Hooker was the quarterback for Eastern Randolph, and Cates might have been Hooker’s QB coach, back in the day…Another Guilford County connection there, when you bring in the modern-day Alan Hooker….This week in the 1-A West:#9 Murphy (8-4) at #1 Eastern Randolph (10-0)

Last we heard, former Grimsley Whirlies head coach Todd Shuping was the assistant coach up at Reidsville HS for Coach Jimmy Teague…Teague another coach that has been at it for a few years, and Coach Shuping took the Grimsley Whirlies to the 4-A State Championship game, back in 2005…This week in the 2-A East:#5 Hendersonville (10-1) at #4 Reidsville (11-0)
(On second thought, Coach Shuping may be working as an assistant coach up in Danville, Virginia now, at George Washington Danville High School…Not sure if the GW Danville Eagles are in the playoffs this year, or not…But, we will check on them.)
++++++++++Round One of the Virginia High School Playoffs for the GW Danville Eagles:The GW Eagles opened the 2021 playoffs with one of their best offensive performances in recent memory. They scored on their first nine possessions and overwhelmed the visiting Orange County Hornets, 63-21. The only possession that did NOT produce a touchdown was the last one where the Eagles took a knee to run out the clock.++++++++++
(The Eagles will be back at home next week, hosting the Warriors of Western Albemarle.)

In the 3-A West, the Dudley Panthers are hosting Kings Mountain, and Dudley has several coaches that were coaching in Guilford County, before they came and went to work at Dudley….Dudley head coach Steven Davis was an assistant coach at Page, before he came over to Dudley, first as an assistant coach, and then he became the Panthers’ head coach, when another former Page assistant coach, Victor Floyd, left out as the Dudley head coach, and headed to South Carolina to coach at CA Johnson High School, and then at Chester High School…Also from Dudley you have assistant coach and defensive coordinator Brandon Anderson, who is a former assistant coach at Grimsley…You have assistant coach and offensive coordinator Antonio Hall, who is a former assistant coach at Page HS, and a former player from Northeast Guilford HS…There’s assistant coach Pat Neal, who is the former head football coach at Grimsley High School, and he played for Smith HS…Plus you have Denorris Best, a key Dudley assistant coach, who is also a former Dudley football player….

This week Dudley faces Kings Mountain, and when you hear their coach’s name, the first thing you might think of is the Pittsburgh Steelers….Kings Mountain’s head coach is Greg Lloyd, and not the former Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers linebacker, but he does have the same exact name, and Kings Mountain has had several (12-3) seasons on the 3-A level, and more about that, later on in the week…
#11 Kings Mountain (10-2) at #3 Dudley (11-1)

With the East Forsyth at Glenn game, you have East Forsyth assistant coach and defensive coordinator Aaron Beal…Coach Beal is a former assistant coach at Northwest Guilford High School, and the NWG Vikings had a lot of success there, while Coach Beal was there working with the Vikes’ head coach Joe Woodruff…The Glenn Bobcats are coached by Antwon Stevenson, and Stevenson played his high school football for the High Point Central Bison, here in Guilford County…Antwon Stevenson, a very successful high school football player….4-A West action for this week, and right smack-dab in the middle of Kernersville, N.C…..
#13 East Forsyth (10-1) at #5 Glenn (9-2)

The Mallard Creek Mavericks are still in contention for a 2021 4-A State Title, and they are loaded with many a Guilford County Connection…You start with the Mavericks head coach Kennedy Tinsley…Tinsley played high school football at Dudley, and then he coached as an assistant at Eastern Guilford, and he was the head coach at Southeast Guilford, where he took the SEG Falcons to the NCHSAA 3-AA title game, back in 2019…Also on the Mallard Creek staff are Damon Coiro(Defensive Coordinator), the former head coach at Grimsley HS, and assistant coach at Northern Guilford and Southeast Guilford high schools…You have Adam Clay, the former head football coach at Western Guilford HS, and an assistant at Southeast Guilford HS…Plus there is Brandon Wiggins, the former head football coach at Ben L. Smith High School…And you have Eric Davidson, a young assistant coach for the Mavericks, who played high school football for Grimsley, and for Western Guilford HS…
4-A West from down in the Charlotte area…
#25 Mallard Creek (6-4) at #1 Hough (12-0)

In the 4-A East, somehow these guys have found a new lifeline…At (7-5), and after scoring 69 points in a victory last Friday night, Wake Forest Rolesville, now pretty much known as just Rolesville, they have found and defined their roles, under head coach Martin Samek…Samek was in the Triad, and he was in Guilford County, where was the head football coach at Grimsley High School…Samek was also the head coach at Asheboro HS, and at WS Parkland….
#20 Rolesville (7-5) at #12 Raleigh Millbrook(11-1) this Friday night….

More on the way, and feel free to add some in…..

Kind of a wild day to be doing this, but here we go…..
**********Dorman head football coach Dave Gutshall announces retirement**********
(Dave Gutshall, the former head coach at Madison-Mayodan and at Burlington Cummings.)
from WYFF TV 4 in South Carolina…www.wyff.com
ROEBUCK, S.C.
On Monday, Dorman High School Head Football Coach, Dave Gutshall, informed Spartanburg School District Six of his intention to retire after 29 years on the field. In a meeting with the Cavalier football coaching staff and players, Gutshall shared his retirement plans and his intention to spend additional time with his family.

Coach Gutshall began leading the Cavalier football program in 1993, and he tallied a 279-105 record during his Dorman tenure. This equated to an incredible 72.6% winning percentage. He led Dorman to the state championship game eight times, winning the title in 2000 and 2009. Under his leadership the Cavaliers also won ten region championships.

Gutshall says “There have been so many supportive people in the community during my years at Dorman who have stayed close to me including former players and coaches and I’m so appreciative to them. The players and coaches are like family to me because of the relationships that you build with them.”

Spartanburg School District Six Superintendent Dr. Darryl Owings says, “Coach Gutshall has led and directed our Cavalier football program to a level of success known both statewide and nationally. We are truly grateful for Coach Gutshall’s dedication and commitment to Dorman High School. He is a true legend.”

Coach Gutshall’s stats and reputation earned him a spot in the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the South Carolina Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. When asked what he will miss about coaching, Gutshall says “I will miss the players and the day-to-day relationship with the players. I’ve spent my whole life with 17 and 18-year-olds and that has kept me feeling young. I will also miss the coaching staff because you spend so much time with them that they become part of your family. I’ve always felt like I’ve had two families…my family at home and my football family.”

Prior to coming to Dorman in 1993, Coach Gutshall coached at three schools in North Carolina including Madison Mayodan from 1978 to 1981, Kinston in 1982 and Burlington Cummings High School from 1983 to 1992. His overall career record is 418-145 with five state championships. According to Maxpreps, going into the 2021 season, Coach Gutshall was ranked #16 among the winningest active high school coaches in the country and the #26 winningest high school football coach of all-time in the United States.

In addition to spending extra time with his family, Coach Gutshall is already making plans to travel. “I’m going to miss coaching but I’ve been going to football practice for 60 years because my dad was my high school coach, but I’m working on a plan to fill that little hole. I look forward to taking a fall trip next year to see the leaves change in New England that I’ve never been able to do because of football season.”

Coach Gutshall’s ability to change enabled him to be one of the most successful coaches in the nation. He said, “I’ve always liked change, it keeps me on my toes. I’ve never had two offenses the same in my coaching career. If you want to be successful every year, you have to plan around what your students can do because in high school you can’t recruit. Being willing to change is one of the reasons I’ve had the longevity that I’ve had. For me, it was always about what can we do to get a first down.”

Coach Gutshall will remain on the staff at District Six for the remainder of the school year. The search for his replacement will begin soon.
CLICK HERE for a photo of Coach Gutshall…Coach Gutshall coached the Cummings Cavaliers, and the Dorman Cavaliers, during his coaching career…..

++++++++++Coach Tommy Norwood, former head coach at Ragsdale HS and at Southeast Guilford High School, still coaching the St. James Sharks, down at Murrells Inlet, South Carolina….
Victor Floyd @CoachVfloyd…Still the head football coach at Chester High School, in Chester, South Carolina…Coach Floyd, former head coach at Dudley HS, and an assistant coach for Marion Kirby, at Page HS…++++++++++