Previewing new head coach Randy Birch, Rock Hill Bearcats for 2024

ROCK HILL- On March 14, Rock Hill High School announced that Gaffney co-defensive coordinator Randy Birch would be take over the post as the Bearcats’ new head coach. The Indians’ long-tenured assistant inherits a program who finished 6-5 overall and 4-1 in AAAAA (5A) and Region 3 in 2023.

Palmetto Preps co-owner Lee Wardlaw caught up with Birch in a long-ranging interview to discuss his new role in Football City USA and preview his Bearcats as they begin to make preparations for a big season ahead in the Palmetto State’s top division of football.

For our subscribers, here is an inside look at everything that is going on at Rock Hill:

The Bearcats return a familiar face in speedy, rangy, route-running 4-star wide receiver Malik Clark, who is ranked as the No. 4 overall player in the Palmetto State and No. 49 player at the position, according to Rivals’ most recent rankings. The 6-foot-2, 170-pounder who was all over the field for Rock Hill recently set a top five including the Seminoles, South Carolina, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Auburn.

But Rock Hill will not be welcoming back the other portion of the dynamic duo that fascinated fans in Football City USA throughout the last two seasons under the “Friday Night Lights of the Palmetto State.” Matthew Wilson, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound 2-star who proved to have a both have cannon of an arm and be an electric runner, collected 2,155 yards and 21 touchdowns through the air and 321 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. He committed to Appalachian State in late December.

Wilson and Clark treated fans to theatrics last fall, all while each of their major Division 1 recruitments continued to grow. As the exciting signal-caller moves on to Boone to play for offensive coordinator and quarterbacks’ coach Frank Ponce, who once led Malik Cunningham at the position under head coach Scott Satterfield during his time coaching quarterbacks at Louisville from 2019-2020, Birch and his new staff are still working to figure out who will be playing under center when the Bearcats take the field against River Bluff on Aug. 23 in Columbia.

While Wilson may be leaving Football City USA to chase the high of big-time Group of Five football with the traditionally-strong Mountaineers, Rock Hill will not be left without a capable passer as they enter their big opener against the Gators. The only question is who that player will be.

With spring practice concluding and 7-on-7’s and summer workouts coming into full focus for the Bearcats, they should have two solid options in the form of Ian Grissom and Kason Canupp. Those two players will be led by a capable position coach in Jake Bentley, who was recently named as co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and passing game coordinator.

The presumptive starter for Bentley’s unit will be Grissom, another player this outlet has provided extensive coverage of. The 6-foot-1, 175-pounder is a transfer product of Lewisville High School in Richburg, SC. Playing in 16 games with the Lions, he helped the program amass a 21-4 record in the 1A, recording 4,173 yards and 57 touchdowns on a 69.1% completion percentage.

Grissom’s solid play in the 1A, which helped him earn All-State honors, could help lead him to scoring the starting role at Rock Hill, but becoming the Bearcats’ quarterback will be a job that is not inherited, but earned.

With Birch arriving fresh from Gaffney, where he had coached since May 2013, this sentiment not only holds true for Grissom, but all players on the roster. Even if their name happens to be Malik Clark.

“We’re working from scratch. All of us will be re-earning our jobs,” he said.

Regardless, Grissom hard work is paying off on the recruiting trail. The quarterback tendered his first offer from Limestone on June 1 and is also hearing of interest from Catawba, Charleston Southern, Lenoir-Rhyne, North Carolina Central, the Virginia Military Institute, and Western Carolina.

Meanwhile, 5-foot-11, 155-pound rising junior Kason Canupp is just getting heated up at Rock Hill under the leadership of the former Gamecocks’ legend quarterback. “I’ve been working with (Bentley), and he is making me a lot better of a player and person,” he said.

Canupp went in detail on how he likes Bentley as a coach. “I love the way Bentley leads us in practice and through drills. It’s just way he teaches us in a way that we understand. He is a great leader that you want to be around,” he said.

The Bearcats’ first-year head coach broke down the quarterback battle with Palmetto Preps. “(Grissom) is a great football player and competitor and good athlete. He has slightly more arm, but Cason make the right reads and throws on time (better). The quarterbacks are battling it out everyday, and they’re doing a fantastic job,” Birch said.

Whoever wins the starting job for opening day, each will each see playing time at Rock Hill. “Both will find their spot on the field somewhere.”

Whether it’s Grissom or Canupp under center, a strong offensive line should be protecting that player. 6-foot-3, 268-pounder Jake Phillips anchors the unit at center, providing strong right and left-angle push on run blocking, and works from a strong base to absorbs blockers and create a perimeter for the quarterback, giving his passer time to throw. He’s camped at Anderson and South Carolina.

“(Jake) had a big offseason. I’m expecting big things out of him,” Birch said.

The tough-nosed blocker will be joined by 6-foot-4, 269-pound offensive tackle Bryce Hagen. “He came along strongly in the spring,” said the Bearcats’ head coach.

6-foot-3, 240-pound Devon Smith, who absorbed the pass rush, showed off quick feet moving horizontally and vertically, provided a strong push on the run block, and demonstrated physicality and a relentless motor, according to our film review, has a build of a basketball center. He has long arms, great athleticism, and an overall intriguing upside. And while his measurables are not consistent with a Division 1 offensive lineman, he looks the part of a strong player. Perhaps his prowess could be utilized on the defensive line at the next level, or at offensive line in the FCS.

Smith should figure into the mix at the offensive tackle position for the Bearcats, and Bitch likes what he sees in Smith, but don’t tell that to the new Rock Hill head coach.

“The tackle position remains up in the air. Bodies are there, but finding the right combination is key. “We’re trying to find the right combo. Who goes where. Who is the guard? Who is the tackle? We’re going to have a position battle. We’re still finding out what are roles are going to be,” he said.

Birch listed running back, defensive line and linebacker as groups where with question marks remain and battles for starting jobs will take place during the offseason.

There’s plenty of athletes to like in the defensive backfield, says Birch, the defensive-minded head coach who used to play under Geoff Collins as a defensive lineman at Western Carolina.

Among those which include 5-foot-10, 160-pound AJ Sanders. “(Sanders) could become a guy,” he said.

But most exciting could be the Class of 2027 combo of Kaiden Watkins and Nigel Lightner, each who saw valuable playing time as freshman last fall.

Watkins, an early, 5-foot-10, Class of 2027 cornerback, already lists offers from Middle Tennessee, Syracuse, and West Virginia.

Lightner, who also stars as a guard on the Bearcats’ basketball team, could be a threat as a sophomore and showed what he is capable of during an exciting pick-six against Fort Mill last October.

His footwork, anticipation, and awareness, along with his ball tracking acumen put on display in what was a highly athletic move to the inside (where he took the ball from the wide receiver and ran it back for a touchdown), demonstrated some of the raw skills that Lightner possess. And those traits could take him to the next level in just few short years. Playing for the elite Carolina Stars’ 7-on-7 program during the offseason and making an appearance at the Florida State camp also adds intrigue to his early recruitment.

But major injuries at the position will have to be accounted for. A big loss occurred earlier in the month when 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior Rakwon Stratford went down with an broken collarbone earlier this month on a Monday at a 7-on-7 tournament in Gaffney.