East Surry hires Caleb Pardue as next head football coach
Last week, East Surry High School announced Caleb Pardue as its next head football coach. Pardue is taking over the Cardinals' program from Trent Lowman, who left to become the head coach at West Stokes High School, a rival right across the county border.
Pardue was most recently the defensive backs coach at Mount Airy High School, which won last year's 1A state championship. He is the brother of Josh Pardue, who was named the head coach at Starmount High School earlier this offseason.
Caleb coached with Josh at Walkertown High School and at Starmount when the Rams made it to the 1AA state championship game in 2014.
West Brunswick High School employed Pardue as its defensive coordinator under Brett Hickman. When Hickman stepped down in June 2022, Pardue served as the Trojans' interim head coach that fall. West Brunswick posted a 1-9 overall record in Pardue's interim year. He was also hired as West Brunswick's head baseball coach in 2019.
East Surry is a 2A school that competes in the Foothills 2A Conference. The Cardinals posted an 8-4 overall record last season and made it to the second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association's 2A West playoffs, where they fell at Community School of Davidson by a touchdown.
The Cardinals are 3-2 in regional final appearances all-time. They've won two state championships (1963, 2019), lost three (1966, 2018, 2020), and tied in one (1962).
