Authorities are searching for Sylacauga High School head football coach Chris Smelley, a former South Carolina quarterback, who was last seen in a kayak Thursday morning off the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Smelley, 37, went fishing in his blue and black kayak off Grayton Beach, Florida around 8:30 a.m. Thursday and has not returned, the Walton County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office said.

Efforts to reach the school system and the high school were not immediately successful Thursday afternoon.

Smelley was an all-state baseball catcher and quarterback during his playing days at American Christian in Tuscaloosa.

He threw for 134 touchdowns and signed to play football at South Carolina where he was quarterback for coach Steve Spurrier from 2006-2008.

However, he transferred home to Alabama in 2009 and finished his college career as a baseball player.

His coaching career started as an assistant at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa before moving on to an offensive coordinator spot at his alma mater, ACA.

He was promoted to head coach there in 2014 following the departure of John Causey.

He went 65-21 in seven years (2014-2020) as the American Christian head coach, leading the team to the playoffs in each of his final six seasons.

Smelley stepped down at ACA in August of 2021.

He spent the 2022 season as quarterbacks coach at Hoover before being hired in Jan. 2023 as the new head coach at Sylacauga. The Aggies went 2-8 in his first year there.

“We are super excited,” he told AL.com after being named the Sylacauga coach.

“My wife and kids are excited. We’ve been down to Sylacauga. It’s a neat place. One thing that jumped out at me was the pride the people have there and the community involvement. You can see the pieces there for it to be a very successful program.”

The sheriff’s office and the South Walton Fire District have jet skis in the water off of Grayton Beach searching for Smelley, and the U.S. Coast Guard in Mobile has been notified about Smelley’s disappearance.

Florida Fish and Wildlife is also heading to the scene, the sheriff’s office said.

Anyone who spots Smelley or his kayak were asked to call the sheriff’s office at 850-892-8111.