Fike High School has selected a new head football coach to replace the previous coach, Tom Nelson, who had served for many years.

The football team known as the Golden Demons has appointed Rocky Lewis as their new leader. Lewis previously held the position of head coach at South Brunswick High School in Southport, beginning in 2016. However, he stepped down from this position in late February.

The Board of Education for Wilson County Schools voted to approve the hiring of Lewis during their meeting on Monday evening.

Before his tenure at South Brunswick, Lewis served as the head coach at East Columbus for a span of two years. In the earlier years of his career, he held assistant coaching positions at Appalachian State University, Chowan University, East Carolina University, and NC A&T University.

Lewis is the offspring of the renowned Bob Lewis, a high school football coach from North Carolina. Bob had an impressive overall winning record of 322-146-6 and held five state championship titles – four from Clinton High and one from East Bladen High and Harrells Christian Academy.

In 2021, Rocky played a crucial role in South Brunswick achieving their first ever winning season and making it to the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Throughout his eight years with the team, South Brunswick had a total record of 29 wins and 54 losses.

Nelson declared his retirement following the previous season, which proved to be one of his most successful at Fike. The team ended the 2023 season with an overall record of 9-4 and was crowned champions of the Quad County 3A Conference. Despite a strong performance, Fike was defeated by eventual state runner-up Seventy-First in the third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s 3A state playoffs.

During his time at Fike, Nelson led the school to a combined record of 81 wins and 67 losses. For the past five years, he also held the position of athletic director for the school.

Source: highschoolot.com