Rocky River hires football, basketball coaches

Although Mint Hill’s newest school will not open until August, Rocky River High School hired its first two head coaches this week.

On Feb. 1, the new school tapped Jason Fowler to lead the football program. Fowler has been an assistant coach at East Mecklenburg High School.

The next day, Rocky River named Brandon Blalock head boys basketball coach. Blalock currently is head junior varsity coach and assistant varsity coach at nearby Butler High.

Rocky River athletics director Brandy Clemmer said the school received more than 30 applications for the head football position.

“He’s a good hire because he’s a strong character-building person,” Clemmer said. “He’s not only interested in having good football players but making sure they’re good young men, too.”

Fowler was a four-year starter on the offensive line at Wingate University. In addition to East Mecklenburg, he’s also had coaching stints at Olympic and West Charlotte high schools. During the 2008 season, he served as East Meck’s interim head coach while the team’s regular head coach, Greg Hill, served a suspension.

Now, Fowler gets to build his own program from the ground up.

“I’m excited,” Fowler said. “I think we can do well. You’re talking about having players come from three of the top football programs in the Charlotte area: Butler, East Meck and Independence. Those are kids who are used to winning.

“We won’t have any seniors right off the bat, so that can be a little tough. We have to be a little patient. But I feel good about our situation. I’m excited about the possibility of producing some quality young men.”

Clemmer said she’s also excited about Fowler joining the school.

“He’s going to be the cornerstone of our whole athletic program,” ­Clemmer said. “He’s going to be working on developing the whole student, not just the football aspect of them.”

Blalock has spent the past three seasons with the Butler basketball program. Before that, he was an assistant at Slippery Rock University (Pa.), where he also earned a master’s degree in physical education. Blalock earned his bachelor’s degree at Methodist College in Fayetteville, where he also was a member of the basketball team.

“He’s a very well-organized person,” Clemmer said of Blalock. “We’re excited about having Coach Blalock because, like Coach Fowler, he’s a good character-building person. His JV teams at Butler have always represented themselves well.

“I think Coach Blalock and Coach Fowler both are going to be great role models for our young athletes.”