Hammond hires St. Joseph’s Jon Wheeler as head coach
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Erik Kimrey era is a tough act to follow, but today Hammond announced the man they’ll hire to try to fill his shoes.
The school will bring in St. Joseph’s head coach Jon Wheeler to be the next head coach of the Skyhawks.
Wheeler has spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Knights, leading them to a 22-10 record in that time.
He attended Lexington High School before going to Wofford College for undergraduate school where he played defensive back for four years. He later received a master’s degree from the University of South Carolina.
Before his time at St. Joseph’s, he was an assistant coach on staff at Wofford from 2017-18. He also worked at Hammond under Erik Kimrey in two separate stints (2009-11, 2015-17) and won four state titles with the Skyhawks in that time.
Wheeler’s ties to the Midlands go even further, he served as the head coach at Heathwood Hall from 2011-14, and his father, George Wheeler, served under Willie Jeffries as an assistant coach at South Carolina State from 1989-99.
The Skyhawks are coming off of a 10-1 season in 2020 and captured their fourth-straight state championship, the 12th for the team under Erik Kimrey in his 17 seasons as head coach.
