Blaise Gillespie is an Army veteran who has logged a lot of mileage over the past few decades.
Now, he's familiar with the Columbia area as a Lugoff resident and travels to Wagner Surry High School several times each month as the War Eagles' new football coach.
The new captain, who has 12 years of coaching experience with the Carolinas, will finish the year at Camden High School in Kershaw County, where the Bulldogs had a great football season. The team lost 49-48 to Daniel in the championship game, coming just yards away from the state Class AAA title.
Gillespie was the Bulldogs' special teams coordinator and co-defensive coordinator and also served as the head coach of Camden's junior varsity football team and baseball program.
Gillespie, of Wagner, will replace Willie Fox in the football post, and longtime War Eagle assistant football coach Corey Erskine will replace Fox as Wagner-Surry's athletic director.
Gillespie's home team includes his wife, Mary, and their two children, Mason Levi, 12. and Savannah Caroline, 8 years old.
Gillespie offered some thoughts on his approach to football after a conditioning session in the War Eagles' weight room on March 18.
“First and foremost, I think I'm an open book,” he said. “This program is about discipline, trust and love, and culture is more important than talent, so I look at this program like a family. I will treat these kids the same way I treated Mason and Savannah.”
He currently lives “right behind Lugoff-Elgin High School” and plans to teach physical education at Wagner Saleh. “Eventually, we plan to relocate. His wife is a pediatric nurse at a children's hospital. She also works as a floor manager at night,” he said, adding that he hopes the situation will lead to career advancement.
