Richard Bell (coach)

Richard Bell (born September 2, 1937) is an American former high school and college football coach. His last job was as the defensive coordinator at Prince Avenue Christian School in Bogart, Georgia. He served as head football coach at the University of South Carolina for a single season, in 1982.

After he graduated from the University of Arkansas, in 1962 Bell began his coaching career at VMI. From there he coached at Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Texas Tech and South Carolina as a defensive coach. On January 9, 1982, Bell was formally introduced as the 27th head coach in the history of the South Carolina program. Bell had previously served for seven seasons as the Gamecocks defensive coordinator under previous head coach Jim Carlen. After a single season, Bell was fired by athletic director Bob Marcum on December 1, 1982.

From South Carolina, Bell served as a defensive coach at several other schools. These schools included Duke, East Carolina, Georgia, Navy and Air Force. Bell retired as a collegiate coach after the 2006 season, after 42 years as a coach. After four years in retirement, Bell reentered the coaching world to serve as the defensive coordinator at Prince Avenue Christian School in Bogart, Georgia in 2010. He retired after the 2017 season.