Courtesy Furman University Sports Information

Former Furman University defensive coordinator John Windham was announced Tuesday as the new Easley High School head football coach.

EHS hires new football coach

EASLEY — After a little more than two months without a head football coach, Easley High School has found its man.

The school announced Tuesday that former Furman University defensive coordinator John Windham will take over the reins for the Green Wave.

Windham, who served as defensive coordinator for the Paladins for the last four seasons, will replace Grayson Howell, who had a 9-14 record in two seasons at Easley before being relieved of coaching duties in November.

“I’m very excited to work with and get to know the great people and great young men at EHS, and I’m anxious to get started,” Windham said. “We want to be a very aggressive, physical football team that has fun playing the game.”

Windham has extensive coaching experience at the collegiate level. Prior to working at Furman, he was the defensive coordinator at Gardner Webb-University, the head coach at Sewanee and defensive coordinator at Colorado College. He also served on the coaching staffs at Mississippi State University and the University of West Alabama.

“I think coach Windham is extremely well qualified to lead our program, and he knows what our kids need to know to be successful at the next level, either on the field, in the classroom, at work or in life,” Easley principal Gary Culler said.

As an athlete, Windham was a four-year starter for Vanderbilt University before signing with the New England Patriots for one year playing outside linebacker.

His accomplishments as a coach include being named the 2005 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year as head coach at Sewanee and improving his team from being the 112th-ranked FCS defense nationally e to the seventh-ranked defense in his first 17 games as defensive coordinator at Gardner-Webb.

Windham has a Bachelor of Science from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Education in Sports Administration from Mississippi State University. In addition to coaching, he will teach physical education at EHS.