Nation Ford High is set to hire Paul Richardson of Virginia as its new wrestling coach.

Richardson, who formerly taught and coached at Rock Hill High and Central Pageland, is currently head wrestling coach and assistant football coach at Manchester High School in Midlothian, Va.

He has been at the school since 2001 and has won five region championships and had six state place winners in his seven years with the program. Richardson said he is looking to move back to the state to be closer to family - his mother, brother and sister in the Pageland area. He has two grown children, ages 25 and 23.

"I love South Carolina," he said. "I call it my home. I love the people down there. I always have long to get back."

Richardson, 49, taught in Pageland from 1984 to 1993 and was assistant football, head girls basketball and JV golf coach. In the 1993-1994 school year, he taught at Rock Hill, serving as assistant football coach and strength coach. He will also be serving at assistant football coach at Nation Ford once he arrives in mid-July.

Richardson wrestled at Carson-Newman College and said he is looking forward to the challenge of building a program at Nation Ford, which will be in its second year. The most important thing is to get people involved, he said.

"You got to get the boys out there," he said. "I am going to have to do some recruiting, stopping kids in the hall, things like that. Wrestling is a hard sport. It's the hardest sport around today. But once its in your blood, you are addicted."

Richardson went from Rock Hill to North Myrtle Beach from 1994 to 1997, where he served as a assistant football and girls varsity basketball coach and head girls track coach. He also taught with Nation Ford head baseball coach Dell Corley, while at North Myrtle Beach.

In the 1997-98 school year, Richardson moved to Virginia, where he served at New Kent High School coaching boys track and was an assistant football coach. After one year there he taught and coached at Powhatan High from 1998 to 2001, before moving on to Manchester.

Richardson will be teaching in Nation Ford's science department, but the particular subject is undecided.

He said his coaching style is very simple:

"The bottom line for me is discipline, respect and responsibility," he said. "I have been very lucky in my career with good athletes and good people. The key to any program is having good people. That is the key to success."