Former Gamecocks quarterback joining staff of Midlands championship program
Phil Petty is getting back in the coaching ranks.
The former South Carolina quarterback is joining Gray Collegiate’s football coaching staff as an offensive assistant and co-offensive coordinator. Petty and Gray head coach Adam Holmes were teammates at USC and also were in each other’s weddings.
“For him to come back to Columbia and help out our program is going to be a huge asset to us. He has a great offensive mind,” Holmes said. “He coached in college for five years and got out of it but he knows it is his passion. His main goal is going to be a head coach somewhere down the road.”
Petty will be the third former Gamecock on Gray’s staff, joining Holmes and Willie Offord. Former USC offensive lineman Cory Helms was on the staff for the last few years before taking the job at Cardinal Newman.
Petty is one of several former USC signal callers currently coaching. Corey Jenkins is in his first season as head coach at Dreher, Perry Orth is the offensive coordinator at Cardinal Newman. Erik Kimrey coached in the Midlands at Hammond and then last season as tight ends coach at USC before taking head coaching job at The Baylor School in Tennessee.
This will be Petty’s first venture back into coaching since he spent five seasons as tight ends coach under Skip Holtz at East Carolina. He also was a graduate assistant at South Carolina in 2003 after spending a season at Hammond School as offensive coordinator in 2002.
As a player, Petty was a three-year starter at quarterback for USC and led the Gamecocks to back-to-back Outback Bowl victories against Ohio State in 2001-02. He was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas award, given to the top quarterback in the country, during his senior season.
Petty was MVP of the 2002 Outback Bowl after throwing for 227 yards and two scores in the 31-28 win over the Buckeyes.
During his last two seasons at USC, Petty completed 306-of-547 passes for 4,079 yards and 17 touchdowns while leading South Carolina to a 17-7 record. He threw for 2,110 yards in 2000, helping the Gamecocks to an 8-4 mark which completed the greatest single-season turnaround in Division I-A history after an 0-11 campaign in 1999.
Petty’s 5,656 career passing yards are good for seventh in South Carolina’s record books. His 17 victories as starting QB are seventh-most all-time.
After USC, Petty signed as a free agent with the Tennessee Titans but was released.
Gray Collegiate is coming off winning the Class 2A championship last season. The War Eagles defeated Silver Bluff, 49-14, to win in its first championship appearance.
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Former Gamecocks quarterback joining staff of Midlands championship program."
