Rodney Barr hired as Lower Richland football coach

Lower Richland has turned to Rodney Barr to fill its football coaching vacancy.

Barr replaces Darryl Page, who stepped down in January. Barr’s hire comes less than a week before spring practice begins in South Carolina on Monday.

“It is definitely late in the game,” Barr said. “But I saw Lower Richland as great opportunity and hidden treasure for football. I feel like the wins haven’t piled up the last few years but there is a good foundation there.”

Barr interviewed for the job in February and then was contacted this month when the school re-opened the search. Lower Richland’s coming of a 2-8 season, but returns quarterback Tevaughn Higgins, who threw for 2,516 yards as a sophomore last season.

Barr, 36, said he plans on sitting down with players and parents soon and get as many practices in as they can in May. Teams can practice from May 2-31, with 10 of those practices in pads.

“We got to hit the ground running,” Barr said. “I want to make sure we’re fundamentally sound, that we are on the same page and that everyone works together as one heartbeat.”

Barr spent the past three seasons as coach at Overhills High School in Spring Lake, NC, where he went 14-22. Last year, the Jaguars went 6-6 and lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Before taking the Overhills job, Barr spent eight seasons at Wilson as baseball coach and defensive coordinator under Page, who recently accepted a position to become an assistant coach at West Florence. Barr was an assistant on the Tigers’ state championship team in 2007.

Barr left Wilson in 2012 to take a football assistant coaching position and baseball job at Southern Tech Academy, a prep school in Charlotte. He spent one season at Southern Tech and another year as an assistant as South Robeson High in NC.

Barr’s hire leaves two football coaching vacancies in the Midlands. Eau Claire’s looking to replace Greg Wright, who took the job at Swansea, and Keenan must replace Charlie Richards, who was the interim coach last season.

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Rodney Barr hired as Lower Richland football coach."