CHARLOTTE — Richmond football coach Paul Hoggard, in his third season as head coach, was selected as the Carolina Panthers High School Coach of the Week.

Prior to becoming head coach, Hoggard served as an assistant coach with the Raiders for 10 seasons. During his tenure as an assistant, the Raiders won two state championships and 10 conference titles.

In Hoggard’s first season as head coach, he guided Richmond to an undefeated regular reason, a 13-1 record overall and he named Mid-Southeastern Coach of the Year.

Last season, Hoggard and the Raiders were 4-3-1 before running off eight straight victories to capture the school’s seventh state title.

“To accept the head football job here is to accept added pressure and very high expectations,” Richmond athletic director Hal Shuler said. “Coach Hoggard was able to keep the team believing in their abilities and continue to strive forward.”

During the summer, Hoggard was selected to represent North Carolina at the NFL Youth Football Summit in Canton, Ohio at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The summit was created to recognize dedicated coaches and to teach them new and innovative ideas and techniques.

As a leader at Freedom Baptist Church and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Hoggard takes the time to share words of faith and motivation at youth rallies.

“The youth respect Coach Paul and I’m sure those challenging words are planted like good seeds into the minds of the youth,” said Jay Denham, a member of Freedom Baptist Church.

In recognition of Hoggard’s achievement, Carolina Panthers Charities will donate $1,000 to Richmond’s athletic department. All of this year’s winners will be honored with an on-field presentation during the Panthers’ home game versus New Orleans on Jan. 3, 2010. At that time, the 2009 Coach of the Year will be announced and the winning coach will receive an additional $2,000 grant for his school’s athletic department.