St. Joseph's athletic director Eric Nash takes over as football coach

When the St. Joseph’s Catholic football team lost its coach two weeks ago during spring practice, the leader who calmed the waters and steadied the ship was already there.

Eric Nash, athletics director and football assistant for the past seven years, is now also the head coach.

Nash was introduced Monday at the high school gymnasium and will take over for Chris Goodman, who spent three years with the Knights before taking the coaching job at Travelers Rest.

“Coaching and being the athletics director led me to stepping in and running things (at spring practice) in the meantime,” Nash said. “It just felt right. The whole coaching staff just kept going. All these guys who coached with the varsity are going to remain on staff. It’s business as usual. It’s just a new person at the top.

“... The timing of everything actually seemed right. It was nice to be out there and be with the boys. In a lot of respects, it was probably a good thing because we were all together.”

Goodman led St. Joseph’s to a 30-9 record during his tenure with a region championship in 2021. Last season, the Knights were 11-3 and reached the Class A state semifinal. St. Joseph’s is moving up to Class AAA for the 2024 season.

“Coach Goodman has done a great job,” Nash said. “We’ve had a lot of success, and there was just no reason to upset the apple cart. It’s been going well and in a time when we are moving up, that’s what we need.”

Nash is a former All-Southern Conference offensive lineman at Wofford and coached that position for 15 years under the legendary Mike Ayers

Nash gave special acknowledgement to Ayers as a mentor. He coached Wofford from 1988 through 2017, won more than 200 games, five league championships and was named national coach of the year in 2003 after leading the Terriers to the Division I-AA semifinals. Ayers is a member of the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame.

“Coach Ayers has been a tremendous role model for me over the years,” Nash said. “He taught me everything I know about football and being a man and being a coach. He’s probably the best in the country.”

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This is Nash’s first head coaching job.

“I’m excited. It’s been something that I’ve always wanted to do,” he said. “I’ve been preparing for the last 10 years, really. It just feels like the right time. I had the support I needed.”

Todd Shanesy is a former award-winning writer who now covers high school athletics for the Greenville News, Spartanburg Herald-Journal and Anderson Independent Mail in the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at todd.shanesy@shj.com. Follow him on X, formerly called Twitter, at @ToddShanesySHJ.