FLORENCE, SC—South Florence High School has a new head football coach after Drew Marlowe Jr. received approval during the Florence 1 Schools Board of Trustees meeting held December 12. Marlowe replaces David Prince who resigned the position in November.
South Florence Principal Kim Mack said that she is pleased to have Marlowe joining the Bruin community.
“We are excited to welcome Drew Marlowe to the South Florence family as our new Head Football Coach,” Mack said. “He brings with him a true passion for taking our football program to the next level.”
Marlowe, a graduate of Francis Marion University, comes to South Florence from Sumter High School where he most recently served as the Associate Head Football Coach and Offensive Coordinator.
“I went to college at Francis Marion so I am familiar with the Florence area,” Marlowe said. “Florence is a really great area. I’ve got a young family and I thought this was a great opportunity to be able to raise them in Florence.”
While working in Sumter, Marlowe said that he and his team always watched the South Florence football team closely
“Before we had a change in region schedules, Sumter and South Florence were kind of rivals in our region so I had a first-hand look at their football program,” Marlowe said. “I have always had a lot of respect for it and admired it from afar. The job came open and I was very interested in it because it is a place you can come and you can win. I am glad that Sumter and South Florence are in separate regions now but it is funny to think about being on this side now. Every year, at Sumter, we always knew that to win the region we had to beat South Florence. That was always a game that we had circled at the beginning of the year.”
Marlowe said that when he starts in his new role he will be observing a lot and finding ways to mesh his strengths with the things already working well in the South Florence program.
“I don’t know a lot about the inner workings of the program right now so I am looking to come in and see what they already have and see what I can contribute to build it and make it one of the premier high school football programs in the state,” Marlowe said.
Ultimately, though, it is about more than just football.
Courtesy: Florence School District 1