John McKissick
Summerville High School
Impact Statement
“Football relates so much to life — you get knocked down and you got to get up.” -John McKissick
Biography
McKissick, who will turn 83 in September, is the dean of high school football coaches. He has coached 57 seasons at Summerville and his list of awards is almost as long as his list of victories. He is the nation’s all-time leading winner, with a career record of 565-133-13. He became No. 1 on the all-time victory list in 1993 and won his 500th game in 2004.
His teams have won 10 state championships, winning state crowns in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. They came within an eyelash of making it six championship decades by reaching the Class 4A Division 1 state title game in 2007. Last year’s team finished 9-2 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
Named National High School Coach of the Year three times, McKissick was the recipient of the Power of Influence award from the American Football Coaches Association in 2003. Inducted into the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Hall of Fame in 1990, he was South Carolina’s “Coach of the Three-Quarter Century” honoree by Coach and Athletic Director magazine in 2007.
Since being honored in 2009, McKissick continued to lead Summerville to victory. As of October 26, 2012, McKissick became the winningest coach in football history with win number 600 with a 37-21 victory over Ashley Ridge.
McKissick retired from coaching just before the 2015 season after 63 years at the helm.
A true football legend, McKissick passed away November 28, 2019.
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