Robin Bacon when he was the head coach at A.C. Flora Robin Bacon is back on the football sidelines of Columbia.

The longtime area coach, who spent last school year serving as the athletics director at Lower Richland High School, is now the offensive coordinator on Miles Aldrich’s first staff at Spring Valley.

“I wasn’t coaching at LR, and that was difficult,” Bacon said. “I had been coaching since I was 20. When you’ve committed that much time to coaching and working with kids, you feel a disconnect when you don’t have that. At least, I did, and that was tough.”

Bacon approached Aldridge during the winter and was hired in April.

Bacon, for his part, is excited to work for Aldridge, who counts stops at South Carolina and Clemson among his more than 30 years coaching.

“I’ve been blessed to play or work for some of the best coaches in the state, guys with multiple championships,” Bacon said. “As a student of the game, I want to learn from the best, and Miles has coached everywhere, in the NFL, college, and high school. I knew what kind of coach he was and that he would be a great person to work for if I could get on his staff.”

Bacon also had personal reasons for seeking out a job at Spring Valley. His family moved into the district when he stepped down after 10 seasons as coach at A.C. Flora following the 2008 season, and his children attend the feeder schools for Spring Valley.

The impending completion of the district’s multi–year athletics facilities upgrade project served as a bonus.

“The facilities will rank among the best in the state,” Bacon said. “They have great athletic programs across the board and good academics. Everything they do is first class, and I wanted to be a part of a place that makes football a priority.”

Editors Note: Robin

Bacon’s brother, former

Dreher coach Bill Bacon,

has also made the move to

Richland District Two taking

a job as an assistant

coach on the defensive staff

for the Richland Northeast

Cavaliers. It’s not exactly

the Bacon Bowl of old, but

the brothers will compete

once again when the Caval

iers and Vikings meet

November 5 at Harry

Parone Stadium.