Erik Kimrey

Erik Kimrey (born August 1, 1979) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head coach at Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Prior to his appointment at Baylor, Kimrey served as the tight ends coach at the University of South Carolina, where he was a backup quarterback from 1998–2002. Prior to accepting his first collegiate coaching position at South Carolina, Kimrey was the head football coach at Hammond School from 2003 to 2020, where his teams won 12 state titles in 17 seasons.

Early life Kimrey grew up in Columbia, South Carolina and graduated from Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, South Carolina, where his father, Bill, was the head varsity football coach. In his senior year, Kimrey set several state records and was named the state's Offensive Player of the Year. As a player, Kimrey is best known for coming off the bench to throw a fourth down game-clenching fade route touchdown pass to Jermale Kelly in the final minutes of the 2000 game against Mississippi State after the injury of starting quarterback Phil Petty. The touchdown pass became the central subject of the 2017 documentary about Kimrey, "Erik Kimrey: The Fade."

Coaching career After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics, Kimrey worked as a University of South Carolina football graduate assistant under Holtz for two years and had an overall record of 194-20. Kimrey was the youngest and fastest high school football coach in state history to win 100 games, and the only coach in state history to win six consecutive state championships. In addition to coaching, Kimrey taught philosophy of religion and physical education. He has three brothers.