BLYTHEWOOD — For years, Dan Morgan was a fixture on the sidelines at Blythewood High School, leading the Bengals to four straight playoff appearances and weaving himself into the fabric of the local sports community. Now, after a decade spent at other Midlands programs, Morgan is returning to the area to build a brand-new athletic powerhouse from the ground up as the first athletic director for American Leadership Academy Blythewood.
The K-12 public charter school is set to open for the 2026-27 school year on the former Policy Management Systems Corp. campus along U.S. Highway 21.
Morgan, who compiled a 29-20 record as the Bengals’ head coach from 2013 to 2016 and later led an 11-win season at Eastside High, has spent the spring assembling a coaching staff for the new charter school.
Todd Varn will lead the Guardians’ football program. Varn most recently served as an offensive coordinator at St. Joseph’s High School in Greenville. A veteran with nearly 30 years of collegiate coaching experience at the Division I and II levels, Varn has coached at Charleston Southern, Western Carolina, VMI, Presbyterian College and Newberry College.
Varn will be joined on the sidelines by Bill Bacon, who brings 30 years of experience as a former head football coach and a Region Coach of the Year in soccer. Bacon will serve as an assistant football coach and the head boys soccer coach.
The basketball programs will also be led by coaches with elite resumes. Tina Roy, a former standout at the University of South Carolina under Dawn Staley from 2011-2016, will lead the girls basketball program. Roy’s championship pedigree includes a Final Four appearance, three SEC regular-season titles, and two SEC tournament championships as a Gamecock.
On the boys’ side, Dr. Alfred “Al” McIntosh takes over with 15 years of experience at the middle school, high school, and AAU levels, including previous stops at Airport High School.
Several other coaches are making the move from established local programs or collegiate ranks to help launch the Guardians’ inaugural season.
Evan Carrigan joins the staff as the head wrestling coach after serving as the head men’s coach at Blythewood High School during the 2025-26 season.
Robyn Andrews-Driggers, a former collegiate player at Columbia International University, will lead the softball program.
The volleyball team will be headed by Chontavia Johnson, who comes with six years of coaching experience at the high school and club level in Florida.
Mackenzie Azuero, another former collegiate athlete, has been tapped to lead the girls soccer program. A Colorado native, Azureo played at Presbyterian College from 2019 to 2023.
Matthew Hornsby will serve as the founding head coach for the baseball team, focusing on building the program’s culture from the ground up. Hornsby is a former Dreher and Gray Collegiate head coach.
Dr. Katrina Mack-Snider has been tapped to lead the cheer, and Brandi Thompson will serve as the head track coach.
While athletic facilities are being completed, summer conditioning for fall sports—including football, volleyball, cheer, and cross country—is scheduled to begin July 13 at 5:30 p.m. Following a brief dead week in late July, practices will resume July 30 before moving to after-school hours when the academic year officially begins on Aug. 3.
ALA Blythewood will compete in a junior varsity schedule during its first year before transitioning to varsity sports.