The Grind presented by Bank of Clarendon: Impact of Gamecock QB Richardson felt on and off the field

Sumter High quarterback Frank Richardson is hard to miss on the football field. The Gamecock signal-caller is a more physical runner than most starting QBs, bullying defenders by running straight through their chests on the way to the end zone. While he hasn't been asked to throw a ton in his high school career to this point, he's no slouch through the air either. His stardom on the field has the attention of college coaches, too, as Frank has a stack of Division I offers to play Power 4 football.

Despite all of his success on the gridiron, what stands out the most about Frank is the man he is off the field. Walking around Sumter, the only reason a stranger might guess that he's one of the area's top recruits is the gaggle of young fans that want his attention seemingly at all times. He doesn't carry himself with an air of superiority; he's just doing his best to take advantage of all of the gifts he's received from the Lord.

"God gave it to me, and as fast as I got it, it's as fast as it can go away," Frank said of his ability to remain humble despite his success. "It's not mine to brag about; it was given to me."

BORN WITH A FOOTBALL

Football has always been a part of Frank's life. As soon as he could walk, he was out on the football field with his dad, Franklin II, learning how to play the sport that would soon take over his life.

"Ever since he was about 5 years old, we would go out to Alice Drive, just me and him on the football field," Franklin said. "I had him out there, showing him how to run routes, throwing the ball, and he was actually throwing the ball well at 5 or 7 years old."

Frank would go on to play Parks and Recreation ball for his dad before joining the Sumter Spartans, an AAU program founded by Ivan Sanders that has incubated a majority of the top football players that have come through Sumter in recent memory.

Today, Frank is a dual-threat quarterback, but in his early days, he did a little bit of everything on the field. Literally.

"There's not a position that I didn't play in game," Frank said.

When Frank first started playing for the Sumter Spartans, Ivan wasn't coaching his team, but that didn't stop the future SHS quarterback from grabbing his attention.

"My first real memory of Frank as a football player goes back to when he was playing for the Spartans. During that game, Frank was a defensive tackle, kind of a heavy-set kid, might have been 10 or 11. Frank made a tackle, recovered the fumble and returned about 60 yards for a touchdown," Ivan said. "That's when I looked at Frank and said, 'There's something special about this kid.'"

Frank would go on to help lead the Spartans to two national championship games, while also playing for Ivan at Alice Drive Middle School. After a youth career playing all over the gridiron, Ivan decided his star player needed to make the move to quarterback. His reasoning was pretty simple.

"Over the years, I've been blessed with the opportunity to coach a lot of talented young men. Some had been great athletes, some had been great students, and some possessed tremendous character. When you talk about a young man who has the complete package, academics, athletics, character, toughness and versatility, I thought about Frank," Ivan said. "Frank was like a Swiss Army knife. He had a cannon for an arm, he was strong, he could run the ball. That's any offensive coach's dream, and Frank fit the bill. And his leadership, I think that was probably the biggest characteristic."

While Frank was a perfect fit at quarterback, he wasn't so sure at the time.

"When he was in eighth grade, Ivan said he was going to be his new quarterback, and Franklin was not really happy about that because he likes to play the whole game, play every position," Frank's mom Kashia said with a chuckle. "Ivan saw something in Franklin that Franklin didn't see in himself. He complained a little, but I said, 'Listen, sweetheart, bloom wherever you're planted. Do what he asks you to do and, if you do that well, he'll trust you to do something else. But you can't do it half-heartedly, because then he'll just sit you down. Who knows? You might actually like it.' And what do you know, it actually turns out that he actually likes it."

SHS QB1

When Frank got to Sumter High, he thought his days of playing quarterback would come to an end.

"When I came here, I really wanted to play D-line," he said. "Then, they were like, 'No, you're playing quarterback.'"

As a freshman, Frank played for Ivan once again on the JV team, but his stay at the lower levels wouldn't last long. He stood out among the crowd immediately.

"Frank led by example. He's a coach's dream. When I coached Frank at Sumter High under the tutelage of Coach Barnes, Coach Barnes really saw that, too," Ivan said. "He told me, 'I'm gonna let you have Frank this year, but next year, he's coming with me.'"

And the rest is history. Frank stepped in as the starting quarterback as a sophomore and was immediately a superstar. He passed for 1,209 yards and 15 touchdowns, while adding another 984 yards and 11 scores on the ground as he led the Gamecocks to the SCHSL 5A DI semifinals against Summerville. Luckily, he was able to work with arguably the most talented running back duo that the Gamecocks have had with John Peeples and Kam Fortune. Together, the trio set the school rushing record.

"A quarterback is normally the leader of the team. It's kinda weird being a leader of the team when you're one of the youngest on the team. My teammates that year definitely helped me grow as a leader and as a player," Frank said. "When I first got there, I was nervous. I was a 10th-grader about to start on varsit;, I definitely was nervous. Having John back there with me and Kam back there with me, they helped me. I saw that we could hand them the ball and get five yards, we could pitch Kam the ball on the outside and gain five."

Sumter High's fairy tale season ended with a tough trip to Summerville. A game with a solid start quickly snowballed into a 35-6 loss, but it was an important lesson for the young QB.

"That helped me become the leader I am today. It hurt," Frank said. "It hurt to lose in lower state, about to go to the state championship. I thought I was going to be in the state championship my first year on varsity. I think that built me as a leader today, because it gave me a fire. I don't like to lose. I can't stand that feeling, and I think that fuels me to be who I am today."

So, Frank went back to the lab and went to work. He was even better as a junior, rushing for 1,424 yards and 31 touchdowns, while adding another 651 yards and four touchdowns through the air. As the year wore on, Frank's physical brand of football started to catch up with him. He got banged up during a 47-34 win over Blythewood on Oct. 17 but refused to sit as the Gamecocks battled with Ridge View for the region title. He scored four touchdowns to lead SHS to a 36-29 win before finishing the regular season with three more touchdowns - two on the ground and one through the air - in a 52-27 win over Westwood.

After a bye week, Frank's ankle was still in rough shape when Sumter High hosted James Island for their playoff opener.

"He actually got hurt in the Blythewood game, but he never stopped pushing. When we played Ridge View, you could see him limping the whole game, and even in the James Island game, he gave it all he had and couldn't go anymore," Franklin said. "We later found out that the soft tissue in his ankle was messed up; he actually had to go through physical therapy after the season. He was hurt, and I told him he needed to come out. He said, 'Dad, they're going to have to carry me off the field; I'm not coming out.' That's the determination he has on the field."

A hobbled Frank put the team on his back one more time against James Island, rushing for 249 yards and three touchdowns, but he couldn't overcome a series of mistakes that hurt the Gamecocks late in regulation, most notably a defensive breakdown that allowed James Island to use two plays to convert on third-and-35 to tie the game with 2:29 to play. After trading touchdowns in the first overtime period, James Island found the end zone again, and SHS needed an answer. Frank ran the ball four times in a row and seemed to find the end zone but was ruled short of the goal line on his final two attempts, ending Sumter High's season prematurely.

"The biggest thing we learned from that, as a team, is discipline. That's really the reason we lost that game, the flags, the personal foul we got at the end," Frank said. "The biggest thing we learned, and what Coach (Drew) Marlowe is preaching to us now, is discipline."

Frank didn't hang his head after the loss. After getting his ankle back to full strength, the Sumter High quarterback was back in the lab trying to figure out how to take his game to the next level.

"As my father would say, 'The biggest room in the house is the room for improvement.' He never thinks he has arrived, which is a great thing. He's always trying to do better, to be better, and not just physically, but mentally, too," Kashia said. "My husband would tell him not to get sideline complacent; they're calling your name now, that doesn't mean that they'll call your name forever."

SENIOR YEAR EXPECTATIONS

Frank's senior year is surrounded by a world of hype. He's certainly one of the reasons why, stepping onto the field with Division I offers from South Carolina, Duke, Stanford and so many more. The Gamecocks are also under new leadership, as Drew Marlowe returns to his alma mater after leading South Florence to a pair of state titles.

But Frank and the Gamecocks are letting everyone else chatter. He plans to let his game do the talking.

"We're not really too much listening to the hype. We're here to win," he said. "We trust our coaches, we trust our program, we trust what we're doing. There's no extra pressure."

Sumter High will certainly be tested along the way. After opening their season Friday with a trip to Summerville, their first since the final game of Frank's sophomore campaign, the Gamecocks will play a regular season schedule that includes Dutch Fork, Dorman and White Knoll in non-region play, plus region dates with Ridge View and Gray Collegiate. Frank is embracing that challenge.

"We're definitely excited. If we see all of these teams now, we know what we need to do when it matters in November and December, and we'll come back and win then," Frank said. "We're definitely excited for those big games on our schedule."

OFF THE FIELD

As superb an athlete as Frank is on the field, his character away from the gridiron is equally impressive. He's an exceptional student in the classroom who is well on his way to graduating in December with a 4.7 GPA and an early jump on college courses. In the spring, he was nominated for the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame's Bridge Builder Excellence Award, which recognizes student-athletes who exemplify leadership, character and excellence on and off the field.

"There have been a lot of touchdowns, championships, practices, road trips and memories in between, but the greatest part of the journey hasn't just been watching Frank become a better football player, it's been watching him become an outstanding young man," Ivan said. "As a coach, there's certain players you remember because of what they accomplished on the field and some that you remember for the person they became, and Frank is both of those guys. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to play a small role in his journey and to coach such a well-rounded young man. Whatever uniform he wears at the next level, that school will be receiving much more than a talented football player. They'll be getting a competitor, a leader and, most importantly, a young man of character. A lot of that credit belongs to his parents. They're great people, and you can see their influence in Frank."

Helper is perhaps the word that best describes Frank. He simply wants to do whatever he can to better the lives around him. Kashia still remembers bringing a young Frank to a cousin's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese when he was about five or six when that kind nature took the forefront.

"A parent came up to me and asked, 'Is that your son?' so I immediately thought that Franklin must have pushed him or whatever because he's a gentle giant, so he never realized he was much bigger than the other children. She just said, 'I just wanted to tell you what a sweet boy you have,'" Kashia said. "At Chuck E. Cheese, the mascot used to throw tickets up in the air, and the children would run around and pick up the tickets. She said, 'My son didn't get any tickets, and your son had two pockets full, and he gladly gave him a handful of tickets.' That has always been who he is, even from that young age."

That friendly nature has never left Frank, no matter how much attention he receives for his play on the football field.

"A lot of kids look up to Frank. With all of these offers that he's gotten, he's like the local hero. I brought him out to a practice at Alice Drive, and the kids did everything but ask for his autograph," Ivan said. "When Frank walked out there, I had Marquise (Lane), he's at SC State, I brought a lot of kids who went to Alice Drive, and when it was Frank's turn, I had to tell them to stop clapping and let him talk. Frank is a rock star, and he did it the right way."

That helper mindset is also evident on the gridiron.

"Frank will lay everything on the line for his teammates. I know that's cliché and we hear that about a lot of kids, but if Frank had to go play offensive guard, he would do it without question, and he would be OK with it," Ivan said. "It's about the team, it's not about Frank, and I think that's why he's getting blessed in everything he does, because that's his mentality.

"'I gotcha, coach.' That's one of his favorite lines. He's a pleasure to coach, and you couldn't find any coach to say anything different about Frank, because that's who he is."

RECRUITMENT

Frank is still trying to figure out his next step in life after Sumter High. He currently has offers from South Carolina, Duke, Virginia Tech, UConn, Stanford, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Maryland and Georgia Southern, and there are likely more to come as he plays his senior season.

Those programs have looked at him around the gridiron. He's received interest to play running back, tight end/slot receiver, linebacker and safety at the next level, but not quarterback.

"I understood that because when I was in middle school, that's what I wanted to do. I never really wanted to just play one position," Frank said of the number of positions college programs have been interested to see him play at the next level. "I was surprised at first, because I'm getting a running back offer and I play quarterback, and then I looked at the film, we were running triple, I was running a lot and I was like, 'Yeah, it kind of makes sense.'"

The recruiting process can be a handful with trips across the country to visit schools while making sure he's staying on top of football and academic commitments, but Frank is enjoying the ride.

"It's a lot to handle at one time, but it's not too much, so I can manage all of it," Frank said.

While it can be a stressful process to navigate as a family, the Richardson family is just happy to see Frank get the attention he deserves.

"It has been great seeing that someone else sees his worth. Since he's been able to walk, my husband has had a ball in his hand, and you always think your child is great, but it does something to my heart that not only we recognize it, but other people also recognize his skill and his talent. That part has been great," Kashia said. "I've been in awe of that while visiting different colleges, seeing them tell them how awesome he is because a lot of times people don't hear that. But it's been a whirlwind."

At the end of the day, this is just the next stop in the journey. Frank has always dreamed of playing in the NFL, and he's worked extremely hard to prepare for that opportunity. He took high school classes as a middle-schooler at Alice Drive because he knew it would give him a head start while pursuing college football. He took college courses in high school for the same reason. This is all part of the plan.

"It's been my dream to go to the league since elementary school," Frank said. "Watching people score touchdowns on TV, all the fans screaming, stuff like that, that's always what I wanted to do since I was little."

"It has definitely been a journey," Kashia added. "He's always said since he was a little boy that he wanted to play in the NFL, and that's been my prayer to see his dreams fulfilled. It's awesome that we're one step closer. I know we're not there yet, but we're one step closer to where he wants to be in life. I love it; I'm enjoying the trip."