Former Spartans starting QB has decided
to retire after 4 seasons, 3 postseason bids
SPARTANS FOOTBALL HISTORY
A look at the varsity football history at South Caldwell High, which opened in 1977 as a consolidation of Hudson and Granite Falls. Records are unofficial:
Head coach Years Record
Red Kirkpatrick 7 27-46-1
Tommy Pursley 3 8-22-0
John Mackey 3+ 6-26-0
Dan Hardee 10+ 35-82-0
Butch Carter 15 104-79-0
Sean McMenomy 1 2-9-0
Marc Kirkpatrick 4 11-30-0
TOTALS 43 193-284 Notes: John Mackey coached the first two games of 1990, giving way to Dan Hardee (1-7 in last 8 games) … The Spartans have earned 17 postseason bids, 11 of them under Carter … South Caldwell has won four conference championships — in 1977 under Red Kirkpatrick, 1994 under Hardee, 2011 and 2012 under Carter.
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files.
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
HUDSON – South Caldwell High’s Marc Kirkpatrick, a former starting quarterback at his alma mater, is retiring as Spartans head football coach.
Kirkpatrick, the seventh head football coach in school history, is exiting after four seasons with an 11-30 record and three state playoff teams.
He is in his 22nd year as a health and physical education teacher at South Caldwell and will continue in that role, he said.
MARC KIRKPATRICK
South Caldwell went 3-3 in a COVID-shortened spring season — including 3-1 in the Northwestern 3A-4A to finish in third place – and fell 42-26 to Durham Hillside in the first round of the state 4A playoffs.
Kirkpatrick, 55, was named Northwestern 3A-4A Coach of the Year by his peers.
He is a second generation coach. His father, Don (Red) Kirkpatrick, was South Caldwell’s first head football coach.
When Hudson and Granite Falls merged in 1977, Red Kirkpatrick guided the Spartans to the state 3A title game. His starting quarterback was his son Donnie (now offensive coordinator at East Carolina).
Marc Kirkpatrick started at quarterback at South Caldwell in 1982 and 1983.
After working as an assistant coach at South Caldwell, Marc Kirkpatrick was promoted to head coach there after Sean McMenomy resigned after the 2016 season.
McMenomy came to Hudson from Minnesota, guiding the Spartans to a 2-9 record in his one season.
Marc Kirkpatrick’s first Spartans team (2017) went 1-11 overall and 1-6 in the Northwestern 3A-4A, earning the league’s lone state 4A playoff bid via beating McDowell (only other 4A school in the conference).
The next year, the Spartans were 3-8 and missed the state playoffs. They were 4-8 in 2019 and again made the state 4A playoffs.
This spring, South Caldwell was 3-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference. That was the best league finish for the Spartans since a second place in 2015.
The next hire at South Caldwell will be the eighth head football coach and he’ll start the Spartans’ 45th season (11 winning seasons, three .500s, 30 losing seasons).
With three of South Caldwell’s 16 all-time postseason bids, Marc Kirkpatrick is third for the Spartans behind 11 bids by Butch Carter, now head coach at Alexander Central. The other three state bids were under Red Kirkpatrick (1977) and Dan Hardee (1994, 1997).
HobbsDailyReport.com will update this breaking story as the day continues
KIRKPATRICK BECOMES HEAD COACH: https://hobbsdailyreport.com/lincoln-county/high-school-football-marc-kirkpatrick-interim-head-coach-at-south-caldwell/
