PROSPERITY — There’s a new coach calling the plays at Mid-Carolina High School this year, Chris Arnoult has joined the Rebels as the newest Head Football Coach and Athletic Director.
Originally from Irmo, Arnoult is a 1988 graduate of Irmo High School, upon graduation he attended Georgia Southern University where he played football in the long snapper position. The team would win two National Championships in 1989-90. While at Georgia Southern University he majored in Health and Physical Education and graduated in 1992.
From there, Arnoult began his journey, first accepting a position as the offensive line coach and strength coach at Cumberland University in Tennessee where he remained for one year.
He would then go back to Irmo High School and served as the offensive line coach until 2014, he then become head coach at Chesterfield High School, leading the team with a 13-10 record and winning the Region Championship in 2015.
“It’s kind of like coming home, I grew up in the area even though it’s 20-30 minutes down the road, my wife is from the Irmo area, I felt like Mid-Carolina had the potential to develop into a good football program, some of the other athletic programs are already at the top of there pedestal and I wanted to be an athletic director. I felt like it was a really good fit, the timing was right to get me and my family back this way,” Arnoult said.
Arnoult added that the transition so far has gone smoothly, from the staff to the community members.
“The guys that are here on the football staff have done a tremendous job, I retained all of the coaches that were here before and hired three new guys in addition to the guys that are here, everybody is working really hard and they have been real receptive to the change because there needed to be a little change and whatever I’ve told them to do they have done, haven’t batted an eye. The community has been real receptive and supportive, everybody has been receptive and supportive,” he said.
While at Mid-Carolina Arnoult hopes to make Mid-Carolina a school the youths will be proud to attend, in and out of the classroom.
“Some of the athletic programs are really good right now, some are not, I want to make the facilities top notch, I want to give the kids here something to be proud of, I want to have this be an athletic program, not just 3A schools, but everybody in the state looks at us and says we want to be like them, from the way our kids perform on the field or in the classroom. I just want to stay on top of things and try to make this one of the top tier programs in the state athletically as a whole,” Arnoult said.
When he is not busy coaching Arnoult said he can usually be found at a sporting event for his children, he and his wife have a daughter and two sons.