Bolick became the assistant football coach at Gaffney High School in 1939. He also played for and managed the Gaffney Manufacturing Company Red Sox baseball team in 1940. He left Gaffney High School to become principal at Johns Island High School in 1941. Bolick remained in this position until leaving for the United States Army in 1942. After being discharged in 1946, he was named athletic director, baseball coach, basketball coach, and football coach at Erskine College, which was resuming its athletic program after having dropped it at the start of the war. The team had also thrown out almost all football equipment when it dropped the program, leaving only one jersey, a few shoulder pads, and several balls for Bolick when he assumed the job, meaning he had to get all the equipment and recruit all the players for his team. As a result, the football team compiled a disastrous 0–9 record, after which Bolick resigned, although he finished coaching the remaining sports for the 1946–47 season.
