Tate preparing for first season of Ashley Ridge Football

By Roger Lee
Summerville – The majority of Ashley Ridge head coaches are returning this school year but some programs will have someone new in charge.
Jeff Tate was hired this Spring to lead the Swamp Foxes Football program. He has more than 40 years of football coaching experience in the state and has been a part of multiple state-championship programs. He replaced Shane Fidler, who stepped down at Ashley Ridge to take the job as the athletic director and head football coach for Airport High.
“It should be fun,” Tate said. “We have play makers here on offense. We have some really good defensive players who can run well and we will be solid in the kicking game. How good our opponents are will have a lot to do with the kind of success we have, but I think our kids are going to be the type of young men who play hard and when they leave the field people will be proud of being able to watch them play.”
Tate coached at Wren High for 15 years. With him as their head coach, the Hurricanes had a 111-65 record and won the 2019 Class AAAA Football State Championship.
He has a total of 42 years of coaching experience. Before taking the position at Wren he served as an assistant coach at Spartanburg and Byrnes. In 2001 he helped Spartanburg Head Coach Doc Davis claim a state title. At Byrnes he coached under Bobby Bentley and Chris Miller and was a part of three state championship seasons.
Four of Ashley Ridge’s returning coaches have been at the school since it first opened in 2008.
To date, Ashley Ridge has only had two head soccer coaches and they have both led multiple teams to region championships. Last season, Nate Harris led the boys’ soccer team to the Region 7-AAAAA, 5A Lower State and 5A State championships and was named the SCACA Soccer Coach of the Year. Girls’ soccer coach Mark Weaver will receive his 20-year service award during the 2023 Coaches Clinic.
Baseball coach BJ Bellush returns. He founded the program and has been its head coach for all but five seasons when co-founder Brian Givens held the “skipper” position.
Jeff Plane came to the school in 2008 as an assistant football coach and has served as the head coach for the boys’ and girls’ cross country and track and field teams the last several years.
Victoria Merritt has been the AR swimming coach for nine years and led multiple teams to region championships. In fact, the AR boys and girls are both the two-time defending swimming region champs.
Larissa Shannon is another long-termer. As the AR softball coach she won six straight region titles, but the streak ended in 2022.
Leigh-Ann Carter helped the Swamp Foxes’ volleyball team claim a region co-championship the last two seasons. Carter Wells is hoping to lead the girls’ golf team to its third-straight region title this year.
Boys’ basketball coach Brad Dobbels has more than 20 years of overall coaching experience. Under his leadership, the Swamp Foxes set a new school record for wins. He also coaches the boys’ golf team.
Jimmy Brown, who is entering his second year coaching the school’s girls’ basketball team, also has more than 20 years of total experience.
Tyler Hughes is entering his second season coaching the AR boys’ tennis team. Joe Hauff and Bellush return as the school’s strength and conditioning coaches.
The school’s competitive cheerleading team, which won a region title last year, has a new head coach. Taea Fonkert replaces Emilee Fidler in that position.
For the first time, AR will have a boys’ volleyball team. Blair Steed will head the program. Other new hires are Warren Rohmfeld (girls’ tennis) and Alan Aponte (wrestling). The school has yet to name a head coach for its track and field programs.
Heading up the department is Randall Tucker, who was named the 2022-23 SCACA Athletic Director of the Year.
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