Coming off one of the great seasons in Presbyterian College football history, athletics director Dee Nichols and those around her saw no need to reinvent the wheel, or the wheel route, for that matter.

Following two seasons on Steve Englehart’s staff, Matt Rahl accepted the job vacated by Steve Englehart’s departure for West Georgia University. Rahl, a Union, Mo., native, coached the offensive line and the running game and headed offensive recruiting on the Blue Hose’ 10-2 team.

“I’m not nervous, but I am pretty emotional,” said the new head coach. “I’m humbled and honored by all the support, not only because I’ve been here the last two years but in this process, in the support I received from the community, on the campus, from our players, and I’m very grateful for that and now the opportunity to be next head football coach at Presbyterian College.

“I want start by thanking God. He’s got a plan for all of us. Sometimes you don’t know what that plan is. You’ve got to trust it, keep working, put your head down every day, continue to pray and He’s got a great way of working things out for you,” Rahl added.

That PC would promote a member of Englehart’s staff is natural. It’s a unique program, playing in the Pioneer Football League, which spans most of the country and yet doesn’t offer scholarships. In Rahl’s two years on the staff, the Blue Hose went 6-6 and 10-2, finishing in a tie for second place last year behind Drake University of Des Moines, Iowa. Three years earlier, they were 1-10.

“Our core values are academic integrity, social responsibility and competitive excellence,” Rahl said. “It’s our plan to have a full program that’s going to develop every aspect of our players’ lives. We’re going to stay in recruiting and make sure to parents that their sons are going to graduate from college. We’re going to develop them into grown men and citizens.”

The job is difficult, as it was when Englehart took the job in 2022. This figures to be the first recent season in which the numbers do not clearly express a likelihood of improvement. Presbyterian has lost a strong graduating class and a number of players who have entered the transfer portal.

“My message is that we’re going to win,” Rahl said. “We’re going to do it with integrity and class. We’re going to do it the right way. It’s been a whirlwind the last week or so.”

About 20 mid-year transfers moved in on Tuesday. Two holdovers from Englehart’s staff are remaining.

“It is my goal that this program will be very representative of Presbyterian College in everything we do,” Rahl said. “We’re going to do it in a first-class manner. We’re going to do it with integrity. We’re going to lead the nation in effort and enthusiasm. We’re going to work harder than any other program in America, but we’re going to have more fun doing it.”

Next fall’s schedule is yet to be announced.

Clinton High School maintains its No. 1 slot among the state’s Class 2A girls’ basketball teams in the weekly poll of the S.C. Basketball Coaches Association.

The Red Devils (15-1) lead, in order, Atlantic Collegiate, Andrew Jackson, Landrum, Kingstree, Ninety Six, Burke, Timberland, Lake City and Blacksburg.

The top teams in the other classes are Dorman (5A Boys Div. 1), Greenville (5A Boys Div. 2), Byrnes (5A Girls Div. 1), Goose Creek (5A Girls Div. 2), Gray College (4A Boys), Camden (4A Girls), Christ Church (3A Boys), Oceanside Collegiate (3A Girls), Liberty (2A Boys), Bethune-Bowman (A Boys) and Military Magnet (A Girls).

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