THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bishop England High School Athletics

Jim Daniel had been coaching everyone else’s sons for so long he thought it may be time to coach one of his own. The former Bishop England head coach is returning to the Bishops’ sideline as offensive coordinator this season. His youngest son, Will, is an incoming freshman quarterback and receiver. “I was a little depressed that I’ve never been able to coach my own boys,” Daniel said. “All of my kids were born when I was at Bishop England. We have some great memories there. Now with Will headed there I jumped at the opportunity to come back.” Daniel was 44-36 as head coach of the Bishops from 2001-07. He started the football program at Palmetto Christian in 2008 and went 33-28 over the next six years, leading the Eagles as far as the SCISA Class A state title game. He’s spent the past three years in an advisory role at First Baptist, helping the Hurricanes win the SCISA AA state championship last November. “He brings a lot of energy, a lot of knowledge and experience to our program and his familiarity with Bishop England just makes it that much smoother of a transition,” said Bishops head coach John Cantey, who served as defensive coordinator all of Daniel’s seven years at Bishop England. “He helped me out a ton early in my career. Not only the X’s and O’s but he brought a college mentality, the structure and the strategy, to a high school program.” Daniel was a four-year letterman at North Carolina State, where he later served as an assistant coach. He made stops as an assistant at Charleston Southern and The Citadel before finding his way to Bishop England. It was with there Daniel teamed up with another up-and-coming assistant in Johnny Waters. The pair developed a version of the veer offense that operated out of spread formations in the shotgun — something very few, if any, high schools in the area were running at the time. The Bishops averaged 30 points per game Daniel’s first season. “He’s a great football mind,” Waters said. “He’s innovative, always thinking about the next move like a chess player. That offense, with the spread out of the shotgun like that, everyone said it wasn’t going to work. He was thinking outside of the box. Now everyone runs the spread.” Daniel and Waters coached together for the next 16 years. Palmetto Christian averaged 40 points per game on its run to the state title game in Daniel’s second season. By 2013, the Eagles were scoring 48 points per night. First Baptist put up 44 points per game this season with Waters as head coach and Daniel as an assistant. “He’s been a security blanket for me,” Waters said. “We still talk football every day. I’m going to miss him being around but I’m tickled to death for him. He gets to coach his son and there’s nothing better than that. And he’s got that fire in his belly again, which is great for Bishop England.” Daniel has had to quickly groom inexperienced underclassmen quarterbacks at each stop. This season, he’ll inherit one of the area’s best signal callers in rising senior Leo Albano. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound lefty put up more than 2,000 yards and 28 touchdowns last season, often directing the Bishops’ option offense himself from the line of scrimmage. Daniel says the most important thing he’s learned the past 15 years is not to overcomplicate things. Bishop England marched through defenses at times last season. The option offense will stay in place and Daniel hopes to build off of it. “Leo’s a very, very smart kid and a really good athlete. He just gets things done out there,” Daniel said. “He’s already been successful in that offense and we’re not changing that. I want to learn from him. ‘Coach me up and then let me help you do what you do best.’” Cantey ran the Bishops’ offense last season but will relinquish play-calling duties this year as he reclaims his defensive responsibilities, replacing coordinator Jason McDermott who left this offseason for upstart Philip Simmons High School in Cainhoy. The Bishops defense held opponents to 14 points or less 40 different times in Cantey’s seven years as defensive coordinator. Cantey was still calling the defense when the Bishops won their first state title in 2011, allowing opponents just seven points per game that year. “I love scheming offensively. I really do. But I still remember how much I used to love shutting people down too,” Cantey said. “I’m interested to see how much I’ll miss the offensive side. I know it’s in good hands though.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Bishop England High School Athletics

DANIEL RETURNING AS COORDINATOR

FRANKIE MANSFIELD

Moultrie News | 6/27/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: BE Athletics