By Jonathan Bym, SLI Reporter
Pinecrest High School’s football team has found a new head coach to take over the program after Nick Eddins was approved by the Moore County School Board of Education Monday night.
Eddins comes to Pinecrest with a winning pedigree as a coach, sporting a 114-32 career record after 11 seasons at Crest High School in Shelby and West Montgomery high school in Mount Gilead.
“Pinecrest High School went after the best, and we got it. Coach Nick Eddins has proved he is a winner and we promised our players and community just that,” Pinecrest athletics director Jeff Hewitt said. “With two state championship appearances under his belt, he is everything we want as our next head football coach. We felt that we had hit a home run with Coach Eddins but when we met (his wife) Natalie and the kids there is no doubt we hit a grand slam.”
Eddins replaces Bob Curtin, who was elevated to interim head coach last year after longtime football coach Chris Metzger left to take a new job in Montgomery County. Curtin, who had been an assistant coach on the football team under Metzger, is remaining at Pinecrest as head wrestling coach.
Eddins took over at Crest before the 2017 season, finishing with a 43-17 overall record, and a 28-5 conference record in his five seasons. The Chargers won conference titles twice, including a 10-3 overall record and a 7-0 conference mark this past season.
Before going to the powerhouse in Shelby, Eddins coached six years at West Montgomery. The Warriors made two 1A state title appearances in 2013 and 2016 during his tenure and won 11 or more games in a season in five seasons.
West Montgomery won 32 straight conference games over Eddins’ final five seasons in Mount Gilead.
Eddins brings in local ties after serving as an assistant coach at Richmond Senior from 2002 to 2011, and also was the team’s head strength coach. He graduated from Anson High School in 1997 before going on to East Carolina to earn his bachelor of science degree in physical education in 2002. While in Greenville, he was an offensive lineman for the ECU Pirates.
Pinecrest finished second in the Sandhills Athletic Conference this season with an 8-3 overall record and a 4-1 record in conference play under Curtin. The Patriots lost in the first round of the state playoffs last fall.
Contact Jonathan Bym at (910) 693-2470 or jonathan@thepilot.com.
