Lower Richland hires new football coach from state championship program
Marlin Taylor was part of a championship program at Dutch Fork, and now he hopes to build his own at Lower Richland.
Taylor was named the new football coach at Lower Richland on Tuesday. The move was approved at Richland One’s board meeting.
“I think from my time at Keenan and seeing Lower Richland from afar, I think it is a hidden gem of the district,” Taylor said. “Ton of athletes and the community is good.”
Lower Richland athletic director Liz Still said there were more than 40 applicants for the job.
“We had a lot of quality candidates and his attention to detail really stood out,” Still said. “He comes from a quality program like Dutch Fork and we think he is the person who can take this program where we need to be.”
Taylor has spent the last four years as Dutch Fork’s offensive line coach. The Silver Foxes have won four straight Class 5A titles, including this year’s 34-31 victory over Dorman.
Taylor said he learned a lot from coaching under Dutch Fork’s Tom Knotts, who has won five state titles with the Silver Foxes and 12 overall.
“Biggest thing I learned from coach Knotts is to hold people accountable and make the best decisions for the team and program,” Taylor said. “I just got to see the organization of nuts and bolts and what it takes to build on a program. We got on a good roll at Dutch Fork and didn’t take any shortcuts.”
Before Dutch Fork, the 40-year-old Taylor was an assistant coach at Ridge View and Keenan high schools. He also was named an assistant for the inaugural Columbia City Metro Bowl in 2018.
Taylor played high school football at St. John’s and then in college at Benedict College.
Taylor will be the second new head coach in the Midlands this season. Walt Wilson was named coach at C.A. Johnson last month.
The Diamond Hornets went 8-5 last season and won their second region title in four years. LR advanced to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs before losing to Airport.
Lower Richland will be moving from Class 4A to Class 3A this year because of realignment and will be in Region 4-3A with Chester, Fairfield-Central, Keenan and Mid-Carolina.
Taylor is starting to put a staff together and says there are some good coaches already in place at LR. The biggest challenge will be when he is able to meet his team for the first time.
Athletes are still not able to work out at the school because of the coronavirus, and it’s uncertain when teams can begin practice for the fall.
“The timing about getting a job is not ideal. No spring ball and kids have been off campus for about three months. When they left, coach Barr was still the coach and now there is somebody new,” Taylor said. “There are a lot of unknowns about what you are able to do.”
This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 1:49 PM.
