By Thomas Grant Jr.
It’s a new era of athletic leadership at Gilbert High School.
For eight years, the school had thrived with Chad Leaphart as both athletics director and head football coach.
With his departure last December to replace David Bennett as Lexington School District One’s District Athletics Director, the district decided to change its approach towards the top athletic position. For all five of its high schools, it will hire a separate athletics director.
On Wednesday, Gilbert High School became the first as it introduced Nicole Amick as the new athletics director. It also announced the promotion of assistant coach Ozzie Ezune to the head coaching position.
“Gilbert High is kind of forging a path for Lexington School District One,” said Principal David Dixon said. “This is the first time in a long time that we have split the positions of athletics director and football. So we started the process with a combine. A decision for us to step back, to split the positions and then repost and so, it was a little lengthier process than what we had hoped for. At the end, we found our two candidates.”
A graduate of Gilbert High School, Amick has served as the athletics director at Gilbert Middle School, as well as the head coach of the boys golf team and junior varsity volleyball team.
She takes the new job at a time when Gilbert is moving up to Class 4A. The Indians will compete the next two years in Region 4-4A with Airport, Brookland-Cayce, Gray Collegiate, Midlands Valley, North Augusta, and South Aiken.
“I look forward to leading the charge in our new 4A classification,” Amick said. “Gilbert is the frontier school in Lexington 1 with splitting our positions and it’s my goal to continue building and growing our culture, maintaining athletic excellence, and showing what it truly means to be a Gilbert Indian.”
Exune worked under Leaphart the past eight years as the offensive line coach. He’s spent the past four seasons as the boys basketball head coach, a position whose duties he will now relinquish.
In Leaphart, Exune replaces the winningest head football coach in school. Leaphart led the program to 78 victories and four region titles.
“I don’t feel overwhelmed about this job,” Exune said. “I feel like I’ve spent these eight years trying to truly learn what’s important and held dear here and I think I’ve learned that.
“There’s not a better (community) in the state of South Carolina. They come out, they support, they’re crazy, they’re wild, they yell, they scream. They have a heartbeat of this, and my biggest thing is making sure that if I’m going to get a first job and be in this spot, no better place other than here. We’ve worked hard, we’ve come a long way, and my focus is to take us a little bit further.”
River Bluff is also in the process of hiring an athletics director to replace head football coach C. Blair Hardin.
Photo By Thomas Grant Jr.
