Camden coach discusses milestone, grizzly beard and time with NFL’s Baltimore Ravens

Camden High School football coach Brian Rimpf won his 100th career game as coach last week, with 58 coming with the Bulldogs. Rimpf is just the third head coach at Camden since 1972.

He spoke to The State and reflected on his time at Camden, his signature beard and long hair, as well as three-year career in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens.

The high school football season has three weeks left in the regular season. Here’s a Q&A with Rimpf, along with this week’s schedule and the top games to watch.

Lou Bezjak: What did getting your 100th win mean to you?

Brian Rimpf: “I guess the most proud part about it shows longevity and success over a period of time. It made me think about all the players and coaches that have been a part of that. Head coach gets credit when things go well, but it is about the assistant coaches, the players. It was really cool. My wife plus secretary and assistant athletic director at the school organized it so people sent in videos of former coaches and players and did a little video presentation at the end. So it was really neat and all of my family was in town. It was really special.”

LB: What is it like to be a coach at Camden that has so much tradition?

BR: “It has been special. Me and our assistant coaches keep telling the players how jealous we are of them. You have a community that comes to every game. … Our home side is packed. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. They come out and it is so rewarding to have the support from the community. It is neat to be part of the tradition and something that I want to add to. It is a really neat place. We have been successful and the culture at Camden is infectious. Hopefully, our guys will thrive not only on Friday nights but when they leave this place.”

LB: You are known for growing a beard during this season. How did that come about and when do you start growing it?

BR: “Beard ... I start when spring practice starts and the hair starts in December when we get done. I started actually with the hair when I coached in North Carolina. When the season was over, I cut my hair and didn’t cut it until the (next) season was over. For me, it shows the work and progress and how long it took to make the finished product. When I got to Camden, I started the beard. My wife got tired of the hair. But now, she is used to it. The players like it. It is a daily reminder of the grind and how long it takes to make something successful. I am thankful I work at a place and a profession that I don’t have to shave or keep a certain look.”

LB: You were a seventh-round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens and played three seasons. What are some of your favorite NFL memories?

BR: “The Ravens organization is such a great organization and that experience I had there has contributed to what I tried to do at Camden. It was well done in Baltimore and the hall-of-famers I got to play with in Baltimore — Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Jonathan Ogden, Deion Sanders — are really neat. I got to play with a lot of great players and see their work ethic and how things are done right. Great experience and fun to look back on. They do a great job bringing back former players. Earlier this season, they brought back former players for the opening game. They brought us on the field, put us in a suite and they did things the right way. I got to take my kids, who either were really young or not born (when I was playing), and they got to be a part of that too.

LB: When you signed your first contract, what was the coolest or first thing you bought with the money?

BR: “I didn’t like to spend the money. I drove my truck that I had in college for the first few years there. But I did buy a car for my wife. My son was just born. I bought a Chevy Tahoe that we still have. My son is still driving it to this day.”

LB: You mentioned Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Any funny stories of them that you remember from your time playing with them?

BR: “Story I remember about Ray Lewis was one time one of our linemen and one of our defensive backs were arguing during practice. And they continued arguing when they got back to the locker room. So the lineman said, let’s wrestle and square it up. So all of a sudden they start wrestling and then Ray walks in. He goes up to the defensive back and says ‘I got this, back up.’ As soon as he said that, the locker room was going crazy. We all made a circle and they got in there and it took all of five seconds as Ray (who was a state wrestling champ) took the lineman down and got on top of him. It was awesome and we were so hype. After that, no one challenged Ray.”

Six games to watch this week

Dutch Fork (2-5, 0-1) at Chapin (5-2, 0-1): Game moved to Thursday night because of the threat of rain on Friday. Dutch Fork has won 10 straight in the series and leads 10-2 all time. Silver Foxes’ five losses are most since 2009, a year before Tom Knotts took over the program. QB Jon Hunt returned to action last week for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury in the first game of the season. Deon Winsley leads DF in tackles with 57.5, five for loss. Maurice Anderson has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this year. Chapin QB Brady Albro has thrown for 1,778 yards and 15 touchdowns. Jacob Nerone and Kalen Bostick are Albro’s top two targets, combining for 66 catches and 886 yards receiving. Gavin Stam leads Chapin with 61 tackles, eight for loss.

AC Flora (3-4, 1-1) at Irmo (7-0, 2-0): A.C. Flora leads all-time series, 2-1, including last year’s 35-21 win. An Irmo win would give it eight victories, most since winning 11 in 2010. Yellow Jackets QB AJ Brand has thrown for 1,502 yards, rushed for 508 and 31 total touchdowns. RB Jaden Allen-Hendrix has rushed for 1,225 yards and 12 touchdowns. Irmo’s defense is giving up just 181 yards and 8.4 points a game. Falcons are under .500 this late in the season for the first time since 2017. AC Flora’s Aiden Mosley has rushed for 413 yards and six touchdowns over the last two games since returning to the team. ACF quarterback Roper Wentzky has thrown for 1,692 yards and 22 touchdowns. Kendall Byrd leads the team with 41 catches for 738 yards and 10 TDs. AC Flora gave up 73 points last week in a loss to Richland Northeast, most points allowed since giving up 81 to Fairfield Central in 1998.

Blythewood (3-4, 1-1) at Clover (5-2, 2-0): Blythewood leads all-time series, 2-1, including last year’s 21-7 win. Bengals QB Harrison Collins has thrown for 1,568 yards and 13 TDs. Edward Robinson leads Blythewood with 10.5 sacks and Zarion Williams has nine. Clover has won five straight since an 0-2 start. Former Lexington coach Perry Woolbright is in his first season as Clover head coach. Clover RB Landon Stone has rushed for more than 1,100 yards

Brookland-Cayce (5-2, 2-0) at Dreher (4-3, 2-0): Two teams are part of a three-way tie for lead with Gilbert in Region 5-3A. Dreher leads the all-time series, 24-15-1. B-C senior QB/WR Will Young has 903 yards and 15 total touchdowns. Running back Deshaun Washington needs 53 yards for 1,000 rushing on the season. He has 13 touchdowns. Tyrone Jackson leads B-C with 34 tackles. Dreher has won two straight games for the first time since 2018.

Silver Bluff (6-1, 2-0) at Saluda (5-2, 1-1): Silver Bluff is in first place tie in Region 3-2A with Strom Thurmond. Silver Bluff’s lone loss was to Midland Valley. Saluda has lost two straight games. Silver Bluff leads series, 5-2. KenMane Brunson leads Saluda with 551 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. JT Lott leads Saluda with 49 tackles and two sacks.

White Knoll (7-0, 2-0) at Lexington (6-1, 2-0): Winner of game takes over first-place in Region 4-5A and can clinch at least a share of region title with a victory. White Knoll’s only other region title came in 2014. Lexington’s last region title came in 2015. Lexington leads the series, 17-5, and has won five straight. WK is giving up just 158 yards and 7.1 points per game. White Knoll QB Landon Sharpe has thrown for 1,520 yards and 20 total touchdowns. Evan Henderson leads the team with 33 catches for 512 yards and three touchdowns. Jaiden Kimble leads WK with 36 tackles, 12.5 for loss and second with three sacks. Lexington QB Taiden Mines has thrown for 836 yards and eight TDs. Matt McCauley and Christian Sexton were inserted at RB for Lexington last week and each rushed for more than 100 yards last week against River Bluff. Montrell Byrd leads the Wildcats with 58 tackles, 13.5 for loss and five sacks.

This Week’s Schedule

All games are 7:30 p.m. unless noted

Thursday

Dutch Fork at Chapin, 7 p.m.

Strom Thurmond at Pelion, 7 p.m

Airport at South Aiken

Friday

AC Flora at Irmo

Bethesda Academy at Northside Christian, 7 p.m.

Blythewood at Clover

Brookland-Cayce at Dreher

Cardinal Newman at Camden Military, 4 p.m.

Columbia at Fairfield Central

Fort Mill at Spring Valley

Fox Creek at Batesburg-Leesville

Gilbert at Orangeburg-Wilkinson

Keenan at Eau Claire

McBee at CA Johnson

North Central at Cheraw

Oakbrook Prep at Richard Winn

Richland Northeast at Lugoff-Elgin

Silver Bluff at Saluda

Swansea at Lower Richland

Trinity Collegiate at Hammond

Wardlaw at Newberry Academy

Westwood at Ridge View

White Knoll at Lexington

WW King at Laurens Academy