Coach Benjamin (Chris) Carter, graduate of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School (O-W) and former bruin football team captain, All-Region, All-Area, and All-State linebacker will return to his alma mater to become the first ever bruin alumni to serve as the head football coach, for the 2022-2023 school year.

“I am very excited. This is an opportunity to create change, and I want to represent change,” commented Coach Carter. “It's also a chance to reconnect with Orangeburg, SC. Orangeburg-Wilkinson football has been an important instrument used to transform young men's lives and create different opportunities through the years.”

With 20 years of experience in coaching and teaching throughout South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee, Carter holds numerous degrees and certifications, including a Bachelor of Science in Exceptional Learning K-12 (University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, 1996), he also has a certification as a Registered Athletic Administrator (RAA) and is currently obtaining his Educational Leadership Master’s from the American College of Education. Carter also holds the following awards: 2008 North Carolina Coach of the Year, 2015 South Carolina Coaching Association Coach of the Year, 2016 FCA Coach of the Year, 2016 North South All-Star Coach as defensive coordinator. 

While playing football at O-W, Coach Carter earned a football scholarship to the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. After his college athletic career, he began his coaching career at Dalton High School under the leadership of Bill Chapel, the most successful winning high school football coach in the state of Georgia. During that time, Dalton won three region title football championships.

Coach Carter then relocated to Northwest Whitfield High School, (Tunnel Hill, Georgia), where he was hired as the linebacker coach. Carter and the coaching staff led the Northwest Bruins to their first region title championship. He then transitioned into leadership at Tennessee Prep School as their Athletic Director and Head Football Coach in East Ridge, and later relocated to Grainger High in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he also served as a successful head football coach.

Carter has served two schools in OCSD. First, he served as the head football coach at Lake Marion High School (LMHS), which had a school football record of 9-52. Over his span at LMHS, between 2009-2016, Coach Carter compiled five winning seasons, one Lower State Title game, 4 NFL players, 24 college signees, Orangeburg's highest NFL draft pick, Mike Williams' 1st round seventh overall pick, and one super-bowl champ, Alex Brown. Carter now serves as the Athletic Director at Edisto High School, where he and his staff broke a 0-22 losing streak in his first season, and in the three seasons coaching at Edisto, finished his last season with a 4-3 record. As the Athletic Director, he built a team that in the very next season was playoff-bound. 

Carter will transition to his new assignment as Head Football Coach and Special Education Teacher at O-W on July 1.

“Orangeburg-Wilkinson can be a vital instrument in changing young men in Orangeburg, SC,” said Carter. “I am ecstatic about my return to my alma mater. I am grateful that I get to serve the community I grew up in, live in and now work in.”