The Irmo athletics department will look a little bit different this school year. 

Just ahead of the start of the 2026-27 sports season, the Yellow Jackets announced the hiring of five new head coaches. 

Some of these hires include familiar faces, while others are coming to Irmo for the first time. 

Below is a bit of information on each of the school’s new hires. 

Matt Hornsby - baseball 

Irmo hired former Gray Collegiate and Dreher head coach Matt Hornsby to be their next baseball coach. 

Hornsby stepped down from his position at Gray just before the start of the 2026 baseball season. In April, he was hired to be the coach at the newly opened ALA Blythewood, but has since accepted the job at Irmo. 

In his four seasons as a head coach, Hornsby has compiled an (80-42) record coaching in 3A and 4A regions. He’s led his teams to two district playoff championships and two upper state championship appearances. 

Before he got his first head coaching job at Dreher, Hornsby was an assistant coach at various programs. He also played baseball, accumulating over 44 years of experience in the sport. 

He has coached three Diamond Youth Baseball World Series Championship teams and a Legion State Championship team as well. 

Aaron Reimer - softball 

The Yellow Jackets promoted assistant coach Aaron Reimer to be their next softball coach. 

Reimer has been with the program for the past six seasons, four of them as an assistant under coach Jason Huffman. In that span, Irmo made the postseason four years in a row and sent multiple players to play Division I and II softball. 

He is also a youth sports coach, having spent 20 years coaching softball in the summer. He leads junior and senior Little League teams, and many have made deep runs in the postseason. 

Since 2022, Reimer has coached on ESPN at four different World Series. He has won over 300 games. 

Keith McCawley - boys soccer

For their boys soccer coaching vacancy, the Yellow Jackets turned to Columbia College assistant Keith McCawley. 

He is in his ninth year at Columbia College, working as a game-day operations and athletic facilities manager. 

McCawley has experience coaching at the high school level as an assistant and head coach in the Columbia area. He also coached at the club level for Lexington Soccer Academy and Congaree Rapids. 

Allison Branco - girls tennis

Assistant girls tennis coach Allison Branco has been promoted to varsity head coach. Branco has been at Irmo the past two years as a P.E. teacher and assistant. 

Branco has been coaching for more than 18 years. Before arriving in South Carolina, she coached in California and Oklahoma. 

She’s experienced teaching players of all ages, from youth level to college. Besides tennis, Branco has coached softball, baseball and cross country. 

Branco is also a trainer at Flex Squad Fitness. 

Jason Huffman - girls golf 

Irmo’s new girls golf coach is a familiar face. 

Jason Huffman will move out of the dugout to become the new girls golf coach. He spent the past eight seasons at Irmo as the head softball coach. 

Huffman is an avid golfer and wants to help the girls at Irmo improve their skills, build confidence and gain lifelong appreciation for the game. 

He’s coached more than just softball and golf in the past. He’s also led basketball, football and baseball teams.