The scoreboard at Pickens High School’s football stadium has new life after the letters designating Coach Bill Isaacs Field were replaced by Derrick Craft on Wednesday, October 22, 2025. Craft, a scoreboard sponsor and Booster Club donor, is a Liberty High School graduate but owns a business, CMG Signs, in Pickens, and he wanted to give back to the community as well as honor the memory of Pickens’ legendary football coach for whom the field at the current Pickens High School is named.

The Pickens County Chronicle spoke with Craft on Thursday, October 23. “We noticed that the sign was in need of some repair when we were on the site earlier in the year,” he said. “At that point in time, I had made mention that I would like to do something to make the field sign new again. It was flaking and pealing.” He spoke with Athletic Director Chad Smith and Principal Lauren Corn. “Basically, I offered to do a complete sponsorship where we would cover all the costs associated with putting a brand new sign up there for Coach Isaacs and restore it back to the original beauty of what it was when it was first dedicated and revealed.

“It’s something that needed to be done. Pickens has been very good to our business and to my family. It’s a small, family-run business. And that was just one small way that we felt necessary to give back to the community and give back to the school. And it was a worthy cause. It’s a good representation of our business giving back to somebody who gave so much to the school itself. So, it was a good vision that came together. It wasn’t just me. It wasn’t just our business. It was the Coach, Athletic Director, and Principal. There were a lot of moving parts that had to come together at the same time and align in order for that project to be successful and to be completed.”

Coach Isaacs’ widow, Peggy Isaacs, expressed her happiness and thankfulness, he said, that it was completed. “It was Chad Smith, the Principal, myself, and our team here at the shop. It was a combination and a good collaboration that came together. It needed to be done. It was something I could fix, and, hopefully, thousands of people will be able to enjoy it the way it was intended.

“The original was a blue background,” he explained. “We discussed what would make it stand out more and be visible at night during the home games. The remedy was a white background with blue letters. It’s an inverse of what it previously was. It’s not illuminated, so, at night, it needs a little help being visible.

“It was our pleasure,” he said of restoring the sign. “I enjoy giving back and helping where I can.”

Although he never met Coach Isaacs, he wanted to honor him. “I moved my business to Pickens after my father passed away, and Pickens is kind of our home now. It’s been good to our business and good to our family. I’m glad that we were able to get it done, and I’m glad that we were able to get it done in a timely manner. It will last for many years to come, and, hopefully, a lot of people will get to see it and continue the legacy of Coach Isaacs and the people who played under him. It’s a good remembrance. It’s a good way to honor him.”