Family of Costa Mesa High football coach Jimmy Nolan involved in deadly car crash

The wife of Costa Mesa High School football coach Jimmy Nolan and three of their children were involved in a deadly traffic crash early Thursday morning in South Carolina, Nolan said in a Facebook post.

Nolan, who was in Southern California at the time of the crash, posted that his youngest daughter, Micki, died, along with the driver of the other vehicle.

A fatal collision was reported on U.S. 521 in Georgetown County at about 5 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Two people have been reported dead following the two-vehicle crash, South Carolina Highway Patrol Master Trooper Brian Lee said.

Lee added that a 2000 Ford Expedition and a 2010 Cadillac Escalade were both traveling in an eastbound lane, and the driver of the Ford was on the wrong side of the road. The driver of the Cadillac and a passenger in the Ford are dead, Lee said.

Additionally, Lee said that the driver of the Ford and two passengers were transported to a local hospital. He added that everyone involved in the accident was wearing seat belts.

Dept. Coroner Chase Ridgeway of the Georgetown County coroner’s office said that Micki was 3 years old. He said the driver of the other vehicle that was killed in the crash was Glendora Holmes, 49, of Andrews, S.C.

Nolan shared on Facebook that he was on a phone call with his wife, Taran, when he heard her scream followed by the sound of a collision.

A successive post detailed his discussion with a state trooper regarding the accident. Nolan wrote, “head on [collision]. just heard from state trooper. Car caught on fire immediately. by the time help arrived, they could only pull three out.”

A third update from Nolan Thursday morning said that his wife and two surviving children were taken to Grand Strand Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, S.C. He said his daughter, Daisy, was going into surgery.

Nolan said he and his daughter, Paisley, were flying out to South Carolina to meet the rest of the family.

Costa Mesa athletic director Sharon Uhl said that the Nolan family is a big part of the high school’s athletic program and community.

“It’s not just the football team,” Uhl said. “Our cheerleaders are devastated as well because they took care of the little kids. The little girls all went to their cheer camps during the summer, so they knew those kids really well.

“Then [their son] Jimmy, of course, Jimmy Jr., was out there. He was a football boy, making sure the football always got over to the coaches and to the officials. They were a big part of our program, all of them. His wife was there every game”

The Nolan family has often been visible as a collective around the football field from one coaching stop to the next, and Uhl said that was the case again at Wednesday’s practice.

“[Nolan] actually was here with our guys just yesterday practicing,” Uhl said. “He was with his other daughter, Paisley. She [was] also with him here, helping out like she always did.”

Entering his second season as head coach of the Mustangs, Nolan has also coached at Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart, Laguna Beach, Compton Centennial, Carson, Lakewood and Fountain Valley.

Uhl said that school administration and counselors would meet with the football program to help them deal with the news.

A GoFundMe page was made on Thursday morning in support of the Nolan family.

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