Greenville Picks Steve "Scoot" Watson as New Head Football Coach

Red Raiders turn Watson, who spent the last five seasons as the head coach at J.L. Mann, after a disappointing 2024 season
JL Mann Head Coach Steve Watson during the second quarter at TL Hanna High in Anderson, S.C. Thursday, October 17, 2024.
JL Mann Head Coach Steve Watson during the second quarter at TL Hanna High in Anderson, S.C. Thursday, October 17, 2024. / Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Greenville High School struggled to a 2-9 season in 2024, a year after the Red Raiders won 10 games and reached the South Carolina Class AAAA state semifinals.

The Red Raiders lost several top players to graduation, quarterback Bryson Drummond via transfer to Mountain View Prep and head coach Greg Porter, who departed for Laurens.

Jaybo Shaw succeeded Porter and the Red Raiders weren’t able to continue the program’s success. Greenville announced in December that Porter would not return.

On Wednesday, the school announced the hiring of J.L. Mann’s Steve “Scoot” Jackson as the Red Raiders’ new coach.

“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Watson back home, as he has deep roots in the Greenville community,” said Greenville athletic director Steve Scolamiero in a statement to the Greenville News.

Watson comes to Greenville after leading J.L. Mann to a 10-3 record and the second round of the Class AAAAA Division 1 state playoffs.

In his five years as head coach at J.L. Mann, Watson was 32-24. His greatest success came in the last two seasons. The Patriots went 11-3 in 2023 and reached the Class AAAAA state semifinals, where their season ended with a heartbreaking 31-30 loss to Dutch Fork. 

“We would like to thank Coach Watson for his tireless work the last 5 years in making the football program at Mann what it is today…,” said J.L. Mann Athletics in a post on its X account.

In addition to Greenville, Watson was an assistant coach at his alma mater Greer, Travelers Rest, St. Joseph’s Catholic and J.L. Mann. He has been coaching football in Greenville County since 2002. Watson was the defensive coordinator at Greer from 2007-13. He was in his second stint on the staff at J.L. Mann when he was named head coach in 2020.

Watson won a state championship at Greer before going on to play college football at Newberry.


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Mike Duprez
MIKE DUPREZ

Mike Duprez became a freelance sports journalist for Scorebooklive.com several months after retiring from the newspaper business. A native of Oakland, California, Duprez moved around as a child due to his father’s service in the United States Marine Corps. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. Duprez, who lives in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had 30 years of experience in newspapers as well as other endeavors before retiring at the end of 2021. He covers stories in both North Carolina and South Carolina for Scorebooklive.com.