Rodney Summers will head the Red Hawks football program at Westwood High, the newest Richland District 2 school that is set to open in August.

The district’s Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved the hiring.

Summers is a Coastal Carolina graduate and received a master’s degree in sports administration from the United States Sports Academy.

Summers, an offensive coordinator and assistant football coach at Richland Northeast, will begin his head coaching duties in time to conduct spring practice — although the roster, like much of the Westwood student body, is yet to be determined.

Westwood athletics director Burns Harris said Summers and principal Ralph Schmidt would begin working immediately to get a full football staff in place by May.

The Red Hawks will begin as a Class 3A program, and the bar is set high for achievement. Blythewood, the newest of District 2’s four current high schools, won a Class 3A football championship in its first varsity season.

Harris said, “We have no clue who our students are going to be, but I know we will hire some very competent coach and I think we’ll be very competitive—if not right off the bat, very soon.”

Reach Nelson at (803) 771-8419