Some occupations are in the blood. Obviously, coaching is one of these. Evidence of this hereditary call to coaching is the Boyd family. Dean Boyd and his older brothers, J.R. and Steve, were all called to the profession.
“Our first exposure to coaching came from our father. He coached American Legion baseball in York for years,” said Dean Boyd.“My parents owned a store. We had to work in the store after school. If we were playing ball, that was two or three hours off from working in the store. That was a major attraction for getting into sports.”
Some of Dean’s earliest memories are of going to watch his older
brothers play.
“J.R. and Steve were both in high school when I was a little boy. I’d get to be the ball boy or bat boy at their games,” recalls Dean. Years later, after his older brothers had chosen the coaching profession, Dean was called in to help. That was the start of his own coaching career.
“Steve got the head coaching job at Indian Land High School, which is
a Class A school. Since he didn’t have a very big staff, he asked me to come help with the junior varsity team.”
So as a sophomore in college, Dean Boyd was stung by the coaching bug.
Through the years, their love of coaching football has been a bonding agent for the Boyd brothers.
“Whenever we get together, we end up spending hours talking about players, plays, or our most recent seasons. During the season, we talk on the phone once a week, usually,” said Dean.
“J.R. and I run very similar systems, especially on offense. Some of the things we do, Lamar had success with already and vice-versa.”
“We don’t think about it a whole lot, but it is sort of unique. There have been quite a few instances where two brothers have been head coaches at the same time, but I don’t think there have been three at once in South Carolina before,” said Dean.

Not only are the brothers head coaches of South Carolina high school football teams, their teams are among the best in the state. The teams coached by the Boyds are ranked first, second, and third in their respective divisions in the latest Associated Press high school football poll, released Wednesday.

“Like most coaches, none of us put a lot of weight on the polls. There is a long way to go and all three of our teams face some terrific teams before the end of the season,” said Dean Boyd.
In fact Dean’s Bulldogs may have the easiest route to the playoffs. The Bulldogs face one currently winless team (Ridge View) and two teams that currently have only one win each (Socastee and Hartsville). South Florence’s playoff hopes are on life support with a 3-3 record. The Bulldogs face South in three weeks. A battle with undefeated Conway would seem to be the only major hurdle between the Bulldogs and a Region 5-AAAA championship.
Lamar will face a tough East Clarendon team before a rematch with Timmonsville. They conclude the regular season with Scott’s Branch, who is currently undefeated.
For Steve’s Cougars, the route to the playoffs includes two teams
currently with 5-1 (Fairfield Central and Broome) and two squads with
4-2 marks (Chester and Clover).
Whatever the outcome, the coaches know that they have the support of
their siblings.