David Morbitzer signs on as new head football coach for Hanahan Hawks
It promises to be a smooth, almost seamless transition now that David Morbitzer has been named the head football coach of the Hanahan Hawks. Smooth and seamless that is until late May when Morbitzer’s coaching worlds collide. He also coaches track and field, and spring football will commence just about the time the thinclads are hanging up their spikes for the season.
“Oh, it might get a little crazy,” said Morbitzer, who is in his 10th year as a coach in one form or another at the Berkeley County school. “But our coaching staffs are very strong and very qualified. They will make my job – and life – a lot easier.”
Morbitzer is no stranger to Lowcountry football. The coach, who turns 31 on June 3, played at Lexington High School and graduated in 2004. He matriculated to Charleston to play for the Citadel Bulldogs. He graduated from the military school in 2008. Since then, he’s worked his way up the rungs of the coaching ladder and is now a head coach in two sports at a school that has produced an impressive list of athletic performers in the last decade or so.
Charlie Patterson resigned at the end of the 2017 after 10 years at the school. He recorded 71 victories and reached the playoffs every year at the school. But the Hawks won only seven games the past two seasons.
Morbitzer doesn’t plan any sweeping changes as the new head coach. He pointed out that talent will dictate the offensive and defensive philosophies of the team.
Morbitzer’s foundation will be character development. He wants to produce student-athletes who work hard on the field and in the classroom, graduate and become productive citizens.
“We are excited to have a young man of outstanding enthusiasm, energy and character to lead our football program,” said Ric Raycroft, HHS principal. “David has been a big part of the success we have had here over the past 10 years and we are excited about the vision he has for the future of Hawk football.”
This is not the first time Morbitzer replaced a highly successful coach at Hanahan. He succeeded David Pratt as track and field coach. Pratt led the Hawks to three state titles and Morbitzer has responded by leading both the boys’ and girls’ teams to state titles in four years as the head coach.
Many of the Hawks’ top football players have performed in track and field the past decade. The most notable include Chris Brown, Samuel Denmark and Quincy Mitchell. Brown played football at Notre Dame, Denmark is at Virginia Tech. Mitchell will conclude his athletic career at Hanahan this spring as a defending state champ in three events. He’s signed to run track at the University of Cincinnati.
Morbitzer points to Mitchell’s development as a student-athlete as a model of what hard work can do.
“If you look at last year, Quincy won three gold medals and a silver medal and then went on to have a great year on the football field,” Morbitzer said. “He rushed for 1,500 yards and scored 23 touchdowns. He played in the North-South Game and signed a scholarship. That’s what hard work will get you.”
“I am really looking forward to being a head football coach,” he continued. “But this just isn’t my football team. It’s Hanahan High School’s football team. It’s the community’s football team.”