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Ryan Bartow - Tigerillustrated.com

Seneca High School head football coach Ron Duncan appointed former Calhoun Falls head coach Kenya Fouch to his first coaching staff with the Bobcats on Monday.

SENECA — Since his hiring on January 8, new Seneca High School football coach Ron Duncan has been hard at work with trying to sell his home in Bamberg, find a new house in Seneca and move. Plus, he has had the added pressure of driving back-and-forth from Bamberg while at the same time filling in his new football staff at Seneca.

Though he still has to load the moving van while he waits for his Bamberg home to sell, Duncan has already found a home in Seneca and on Monday he completed his football staff with the naming of former Calhoun Falls head coach Kenya Fouch as his assistant head coach and tight ends coach.

Duncan confirmed Fouch accepted the job Monday night by cell phone.

“He brings a whole wealth of experience to our program,” Duncan said. “He has had a lot of success as both a player and as a coach. He also cares about the kids and what happens to them. He brings a lot to the table and we’re excited to have him on board.”

Prior to his time at Calhoun Falls, Fouch spent two years as linebackers and defensive line coach at Clarke Central in Athens, Ga. He previously served as a defensive coach at his alma mater, Hart County Academy, for three years.

Fouch graduated from Hart County in 1994, and played two years of college football at Georgia Tech before closing his career at Furman and earning his sociology degree in 1999.

Fouch fills out a staff that has a lot of head coaching experience. Besides Fouch, Mike Allen, a coach with head-man experience at five different high schools, joins the staff, while Rick Pate, who has been a head coach at Walhalla High School, was retained from Brian Smith’s staff.

Pate served as Smith’s defensive coordinator the last two years, and will serve under Duncan in the same capacity. He will also coach the linebackers.

Allen, who was the defensive coordinator at Westside High School last year, will be Seneca’s new offensive coordinator as well as work with the quarterbacks. Allen has been a head coach at Northwestern, Gilbert, McCormick, Strom Thurmond and A.C. Flora.

Besides Pate, Duncan also retained offensive line coaches Justin Crocker and Matt Saffer, running backs coach Ozzie Wright, wide receiver coach Nick Grooms, defensive line coach Gary Hamby, defensive backs coach Andy Bay, ninth grade coaches Stanley Leroy and Tim Smith (volunteer) and middle school coach Andrew Williams.

Also former Newberry College coach, Jontha Zibert, will also serve as one of Duncan’s defensive backs coaches.

Duncan said he has been extremely pleased with the way the administration allowed him to assemble his staff and he is excited to get on the football field and get to work.

“I can’t say enough about how the administration and the district have supported me and have helped me while I try to rebuild the Seneca program,” he said. “They have been very supportive of me and my family while we make it through this transition.

“We’re very excited about the guys that we have retained and the guys that have come on board to be a part of the Seneca family.”

Duncan and his new staff will head out on a coaches only getaway this weekend before opening up spring drills on May 12. Spring practice will conclude on May 28.