Aaron Brand has a good idea of how Dutch Fork's program is being run.
The new head football coach at Irmo is a former assistant in Charlotte under current Dutch Fork head coach Tom Knotts who has turned the Silver Foxes into a 5A powerhouse.
Dutch Fork has won the last three 5A state championships and are in the midst of a 25-game winning streak after a 13-0 mark in 2018.
For Brand, he knows before the Irmo-Dutch Fork rivalry becomes that in the truest sense of the word, he has to lay his foundation at Irmo.
"Rivalry - when you say that word rivalry, I think that means the games have been kind of split, equally. Irmo's won a bunch and Dutch Fork's won a bunch," Brand explained.
"The last couple of years, it's only been a rivalry of proximity. So we look to get some of that back. Irmo and Dutch Fork are just close right now in distance. not close right now football-wise. But we look to get that back real soon."
At his official introduction Tuesday, Brand already laid out what his team would need to do this season to make those games with Dutch Fork closer.
"You know who the guys are," he said.
"You know you have to cover Jalin Hyatt. You know you have to put a little pressure on Olenchuck. There's somethings you have to do in the city to be successful, in the state to be successful. What we want to do, guys, is be the best Irmo we can be and once we get to be the best Irmo we can be, then we'll worry about everyone else a little bit later down the road."