Bluffton’s Cross schools names Navy vet as head football coach, along with new AD
Bluffton’s Cross Schools has a new football coach.
Cleophus Lane will serve as the school’s head football coach, overseeing the middle and high school programs. He’ll also be a strength trainer and campus security manager there, the school announced Monday.
Lane has played or coached football for 44 years, and served 20 years in the U.S. Navy. In Arkansas, he led West Memphis Junior High’s football team to four City Championships in a row, according to his resume.
School spokesperson Kelly Williamson said that Lane saw the job posting while driving to Bluffton from Mississippi for a vacation, and that his wife encouraged him to apply.
Cross’ high school football program was started in 2019 and previously coached by former NFL player Keith Brooking. Williamson said Monday that Brooking’s family has gone to Savannah Christian Prep, where his son plays lacrosse.
Cross, which serves more than 600 students from preschool to the 12th grade, also announced it had hired DeLeon Johnson as its new athletic director and head basketball coach earlier this month.
Johnson “has worked as a coach for the past 10 years at the collegiate, high school and middle school levels,” and has previously worked for parks and recreation in Beaufort and Orangeburg counties, according to a school press release.
He also served as a behavior management specialist at H.E. McCracken Middle School in Bluffton.
This story was originally published July 19, 2021 at 3:17 PM.