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New Blythewood Football Coach Is Excited About The Potential

Blythewood High School's new head football coach arrives on campus.
New Blythewood head football coach Jason Seidel looks over the 2017 football roster and notes which players have graduated. Seidel hopes his 2018 roster will be one that leads a turnaround in the program.

He's a New York native who has been coaching in North Carolina, but Jason Seidel says he wanted to eventually get a job in South Carolina. Blythewood gave him that opportunity.

The Richland District Two School Board approved Seidel's hiring Tuesday night and Wednesday, the coach was on campus meeting with his new team and his new colleagues.

Seidel has been an assistant coach at several North Carolina schools. For the past seasons, he was in charge of the Hickory Ridge program in Cabarrus County, compiling a 23-6 record. He hopes his personality and philosophy will return to the Bengals to the playoffs. They missed the post-season in 2017 with a 3-8 record. Even though the team was decimated by injuries, head coach Brian Smith was fired after one season. Seidel feels with a healthy team, the Bengals can be a factor in their new five-team region in Class 5A.

"The talent is here," Seidel said.

"I just walked in the room and looked at everybody and I've already watched some film. The talent is unbelievable here. We just need to play together. We need to find a way to come together. To me, that weight room and what we do on the football field and what we do in the classroom and in the community, to me it all ties together. Football will always take care of itself."

It will be a major neighborhood change for Seidel whose current home is about five minutes from the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

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