John McKissick (September 25, 1926 – November 28, 2019) was a head football coach of

Summerville High School Summerville High School is a public high school in Summerville, South Carolina. History Until the 1960s, a brick building on Main Street, which is now Rollings Middle School of the Arts, was the only high school in the Summerville area. As Sum ...

Summerville, South Carolina Summerville is a town in the U.S. state of South Carolina situated mostly in Dorchester County, with small portions in Berkeley and Charleston counties. It is part of the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Su ...

. In 2012, he became the first American football coach in history (high school, college, or professional) to win 600 career games. His 600th win came against Summerville's

Ashley Ridge High School Ashley Ridge High School is a secondary school located in Dorchester County, South Carolina, United States. It is the newest high school in Dorchester School District Two. The school opened in August 2008. Band The ARHS winter ensembles are the ...

. Up until 2013, he had never missed a game in 62 years and was the longest serving high school football coach of all time. He led Summerville to 10 state championships. With 621 wins, McKissick holds the record for most wins by a football coach at any level. He graduated from Kingstree Senior High School in

Kingstree, South Carolina Kingstree is a city and the county seat of Williamsburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,328 at the 2010 census. History The original town was laid out as Williamsburg by the Lords Proprietors in colonial times, but a ...

, then went to

Presbyterian College Presbyterian College (PC) is a private Presbyterian liberal arts college in Clinton, South Carolina. History Presbyterian College was founded in 1880 by the William Plumer Jacobs. He had served as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Cl ...

for two years before being drafted into the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

(as a

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

). He returned to Presbyterian to graduate with a degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in 1951. He then worked for his father for a while before finally getting the coaching job at Summerville High. He coached all three of his grandsons, Richard and Joe Call, and Donny McElveen. He was elected to the

National High School Hall of Fame The National High School Hall of Fame is a program of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) that honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to high school sports or performing arts. As of 2019, a total of ...

in 1990. After McKissick's retirement ahead of the 2015 season, grandson Joe who had been his offensive coordinator was named head coach. McKissick was mentioned in

Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books '' The Water is Wide'', ''The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides'' and ''The Great Santini'' we ...

's ''

The Prince of Tides ''The Prince of Tides'' is a 1991 American romantic drama film directed and co-produced by Barbra Streisand, from a screenplay written by Pat Conroy and Becky Johnston, based on Conroy's 1986 novel ''The Prince of Tides''. It stars Streisand a ...

'' novel in 1986 and the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

that was released five years later. In Conroy's novel, ''

South of Broad ''South of Broad'' is a 2009 novel by Pat Conroy. The novel follows the life of Leopold Bloom King in Charleston, South Carolina. It ranges from his troubled childhood to his adult life with his close group of friends. Plot summary The story is d ...

'', McKissick is given dialogue in a fictional game played between Summerville High School and Peninsula High School.

References

External links

*
Summerville High School Athletics DepartmentNFLHS.COM – Legends of HS Football: John McKissick
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927151310/http://www.thestateonline.com/history/files/20050821_X1.pdf 2005 High School Football Previewbr>USATODAY.com – Winningest football coach at 532 and not about to stop
1926 births 2019 deaths People from Kingstree, South Carolina People from Summerville, South Carolina Players of American football from South Carolina American football fullbacks Brevard Tornados football players Presbyterian Blue Hose football players Military personnel from South Carolina Coaches of American football from South Carolina High school football coaches in South Carolina United States Army soldiers Paratroopers {{Amfoot-coach-stub