Anthony Sullivan, a Millbrook assistant football coach the past four seasons, is the new head coach at Northern Durham High.

He succeeds Paul Rodio, who coached at Northern Durham for four seasons, including last year when the Knights went 3-8.

"I'm excited about going to a school with the tradition of Northern," said Sullivan, who has been Millbrook's defensive coordinator the past two seasons.

"I've done some research and know some players there are carrying on a three- or four-generation tradition. I believe the football program can be very successful there."

A native of Oceanside, Calif., Sullivan is a graduate of Carlsbad (Calif.) High. He was a four-year starter at cornerback at California Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

He was the head coach at Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad for three years before relocating to North Carolina.

"I wanted my family to have the quality of life that this area offers," Sullivan said. "You read all the surveys and investigate all the different places where you could go, and the Triangle comes out on top."

Northern athletic director Walt Hensler said Sullivan was impressive in his interviews.

"He knocked our socks off," Hensler said. "He is very intelligent, very organized. He is bringing great enthusiasm."

Millbrook coach Clarence Inscore said Sullivan values input from other coaches.

"He listens and makes decisions," Inscore said. "He is very organized, very disciplined and gets everyone involved."

Hensler didn't tie the search to Northern graduates or former coaches at the school.

"There was a great deal of interest in the job," Hensler said. "We had applications from Texas, Nevada, Florida, Nebraska, Michigan and Ohio.

"We really wanted to find the very best person to lead the program. We think we found him."

Sullivan takes over a program that has a great tradition.

Coach Kenny Browning had an 18-year record of 180-34 at Northern before resigning to become an assistant coach at UNC. Gary Merrill, a Browning assistant, succeeded him after the 1993 state championship season and built a 10-year mark of 102-21.