MORGANTON—Blair Hardin is leaving Freedom High School as head football coach after one year.

         Hardin, who went to Freedom after a successful tenure at Porter Ridge, has been named the new head football coach and assistant athletic director at North Myrtle Beach (SC) High School, according to a report in the Hickory Daily Record.

         The 32-year-old head coach was an assistant at Providence and Ardrey Kell before becoming head coach at Porter Ridge, where he guided the program for five years and reached the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state championship game twice.

         Freedom was 11-2 a year ago and lost in the second round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs.

         Hardin indicated that the opportunity to begin work on a master’s degree in administration and serve as an assistant athletic director at North Myrtle Beach were factors in his decision.

         Hardin’s father, Bruce, is a long-time football coach and is a member of the NCHSAA Hall of Fame.