When the opportunity presented itself on Chris Glover’s doorstep, he knew he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.
That’s the train of thought that took him back to where his coaching career began.
On Tuesday afternoon, Glover was named the head coach at Carolina High School. It’s his first stint as head football coach, but not his first stint as head coach – he was previously the head track coach at Carolina and Greenwood. He has spent the last year outside of coaching, only working as a teacher at Woodmont but coaching football at Woodmont in 2019 as an assistant under Jet Turner.
Now he’s back to his roots – Glover spent 11 seasons with Carolina as an assistant on both sides of the ball. During this time he rose to defensive coordinator and then offensive coordinator under Mark Hodge.
“It’s time, it’s time to go there,” Glover said The Greenville News when asked if he should take the job. “Let’s see if we can get this thing working again and compete again. Get the kids excited, get the community excited about Carolina Football.”
Glover said he saw the program succeed. He was an assistant in 2011 when the Trojans went 8-5 and fell just a game behind the Upper State Championship.
“It’s always been my dream to be a head coach,” Glover said. “Not when I first started coaching, but as I got more into it, (it’s an) opportunity to mentor and work with kids.
Glover will become the program’s fifth head coach since Hodge left the company in 2011 to coach with Chapman.
“He’s got the same build that Coach Shaw had when he came in, the same physique that Coach Wright has … and Hodge,” Carolina athletic director Thomas Fair said Tuesday. “He saw how these people worked. Then he actually saw what top programs are like – in Greenwood and Woodmont. He brings all of that back to us.”
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But he said that after he and his wife discussed opening, the 45-year-old decided it was time to jump at the chance to become head football coach.
“It’s a place that has always had my heart in it and whatever time I’ve spent there,” Glover said. “I was just looking at it, my wife and I were talking about it, she said, ‘That’s a place you’ve been to … You’ve also been part of some staff where (we went to the playoffs).’
“I could also see that it’s succeeding… (My time there) gave me an opportunity to see some things and learn some things that there is an opportunity (to be successful) there.”
The announcement that Glover will be the new football coach comes just under a month later The newslearned that former head coach Kyle Bishop had been relieved of his coaching duties.
Bishop had not won a game as head football coach. During his tenure as head coach, the Trojans led 16-0 in two seasons.
Bishop was placed on administrative leave in March, The News learned, and was relieved of his role as football coach shortly thereafter after being taken off administrative leave.
Both GCS spokesman Tim Waller and Fair declined to comment at the time on why he was being put on leave and relieved of his coaching duties. The news has filed a FOIA on the decision, which is being processed by the school district.
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What Glover hopes to bring to the table
Glover said he understands there have been many changes regarding the football coaching position at Carolina High.
“(Consistency), that’s going to be my motto, that’s going to be my word to the kids: Consistency.
“I want to offer some consistency, not just for first year, second year, third year… The kids who are seniors who I’m going to be as third coach, I want to say goodbye to them and have a place to go back to ( and feel welcome).
“That’s how I want to build my program.”
Joe Dandron covers high school athletics for The Greenville News. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter: @JoeMDandron.