Coach, you're heading into your eighth season with the Wildcats.

You made it to the final game of the year last year.

What did you learn from that game and the season as a whole?

Well, I've learned a lot of things in the past year about our team, about our community.

And the biggest thing I think that I got from the season last year and the thing that I learned that we're going to have to do a little bit better job coaching the the finer points of the game and what we have.

If we want to go all the way and win the entire and if we want to win a state championship because, you know, when we played back and they were very, very well coached and they exploited a couple things and we didn't do a really good job.

When I went back and looked at the fan on them, making some adjustments that I thought we could have done on the field.

So, you know, I've learned we've we've kind of went back and self evaluated our our team and our coaching staff and what we're doing.

And we feel like we correct errors that still make us a little bit better.

So having corrected those errors after the self evaluation and getting into 23 season, what has spring and summer been like getting ready for the season coming up?

Be honest with you, it's been it's been really good.

Speaking of learning things, you know, with the two players that we have, the two boys that we have here, Julius Solomon, Zane Walker does the recruiting part of it was having a try to balance all the things that are going on with recruiting and those kind of things.

It's honestly, man, a little tumultuous at times trying to get what we're we'll get done here and trying to meet with all the college coaches and the things that we have to do with those guys.

But for the most part, we've had a really good spring and summer back that I felt like we got accomplished a lot of the goals that we're going we're trying to we're trying to run the football a little bit better and we really spend a lot of time on that and try to work a lot on our run defense.

And we've gotten better on that too.

So probably is the strongest team that I've had overall in the weight room I've been here.

Speaking of college coaches, I know that's a big thing in the off season.

Tell me about some of your players who have gotten offers and then a kid on your team that deserves an offer.

We have Carson Westbrook and he's had numerous offers from smaller colleges.

Jay Kanazawa he's had he's small for some solid places.

Of course, Zion and Zayn Walker and Joe Louis Sullivan are powerful kids that have had a lot of offers and end up coming here in the next few days.

Probably will in the next month.

We've got some kids that are on my team.

There are very, very good football players.

Our center, Wyatt Halstead, is one of the strongest kids ever coaching power, going through about £350 for real and he really, really is a great player.

And we have probably what I know, I don't think Jack Parker is probably the best inside linebacker that we have that I've seen in a long time that I've coached.

And he's a kid that's gonna be deserving of an offer at some point.

And then in the near future, I hope some interest, more interest in what is getting.

When you look at your region region six say there in class AA D2 you're talking about the region title that you got from last year.

You got Manchester that's there Macon County Chat Co, Greenville, Marion Taylor in central Talbots and plus the three non region games that you've got to piece together.

When you look at your 23 schedule, what do you see?

Well, you know, there's there's some games that I think we should handle and then there's some games that we're going to really have to play.

Well.

And, you know, again, I try to go out in the off season and schedule some really, really tough teams.

And we start out, of course, with our scrimmage versus Irwin County on August the fourth.

That's the way to start.

You start right into the fire there and you know, Sunday night coach together for a number of years in America.

So it's one of my good friends.

And, you know, his brother Eric hired me originally as a high school football coach.

And so we always try to play each other.

And, you know, we play a lot of winning teams early can, of course, during the regular season.

And then, you know, Manchester, they're going to be really good always we have to play them.

So I want I want to go out and try to find a real good winning team.

That's why I played Erwin.

So I'll be ready for those guys when it's time to play them.

Paterno's gonna be good again to square.

We open up with them first game.

They're going to be really, really good.

And I don't know about early.

You know they lost in kids.

They have some good kids coming back and they lost a coach that I hadn't heard a whole lot from them, you know, And of course, I got to play with my good friends, Bob, last year and black accounting head coach at West Lawrence a little bit.

And we are we are we're going to we're going to try and figure out the best.

I mean, last year they had a really, really, really good football team last year.

So we're going to try again against those guys.

And then in our region, you know, Mike and Manchester are always tough, hard.

You know, it's going to be a game we have to win.

Chet goes, got a new coach.

They're always good, you know, every year.

Then you got married and Tyler and you don't know how good they're going to be.

I'm hearing they're getting better as the summer and spring.

The summer progressed.

So, you know, we have a tough schedule ahead of us.

We're looking forward to it.

You know, we're praying that we stay healthy throughout the season.

Let me give our best shot at it.

Coach John has been all over the state and I am so proud to say that I have been to Ellisville, I have been to your stadium, and that makes me so happy that I can say that.

Coach, what does football mean to your town and your community there?

The people in our community?

You know, this was tri county 20, 23, 24 years ago, and the kids from Taylorville went to the university to go to school, will not be in to what's called drain bill at that time but in three counties came together, Webster, Marion, and we're all together in one big school.

And the people of Stark County wanted their own school.

And I remember I was in America.

I've been from America.

I was born and raised in America's coach there forever.

And I was kind of on the outside looking in at that particular town and had a lot of friends up this way.

And they really wanted their own school.

They wanted to be separate.

They wanted they knew they were going to be small.

They knew they were going to struggle athletically in the beginning of it.

So they've done a lot.

They they really they really pushed to have a good athletic program here, John.

And he knows Rusty Tandy well.

And and they he's talked with him before about how they came and started the program and, you know, got got things going.

And over time, the program has grown.

People from America have moved up.

It's a really, really good school.

So a lot of people want to come to school here.

So they moved into the county and, you know, and as that happened, the school has gotten bigger and people have really become more and more excited about their football, baseball and athletics in general.

You know, not one program gets any more recognition than another program here because the parents just love the kids.

And the kids loved playing.

And our bonus question, last one for you.

We're asking everybody if you have a funny coaching moment, a funny coaching memory, a game day tradition or a superstition.

Is there a story from one of those questions that you'd like to share?

Yeah.

When I was at West Lawrence High School, Keegan, a client, he was a head football coach at West Orange for a while there and a board last was there also.

And Stacey Nobles.

And we really, really had a lot of fun together there.

And there was just always and I'm not a prankster, but I was always the guy that happened to get pranked almost every day.

Something.

What happened, whether Coach McClain would put a banana in my hat before I put it on, I would know it was in there.

He would do stuff on it or they would.

And I'm a perfectionist.

I like everything to be in order.

My desk has to be clean and in a day I had to have everything we're supposed to.

I, I want my walls painted right.

I don't want stuff done by filing cabinets.

I've got to be, you know, organized and those kind of things.

And those guys just really, really love to mess with me.

They would take my files and move them in my desk and stuff like that.

I kind of came to want to work one day in my desk and everything had been turned around, facing the wall, you know, and and it was a client who did it.

But Coach Lassiter wouldn't he wouldn't lie about it for me.

No, he wouldn't tell me who it really was, you know?

So it was just fun.

We had a great time when I was over there.

I really enjoyed those guys and, you know, a lot of that.

A lot of us have moved on from there and become head coaches and done other things.

And we really had the opportunity to learn and grow and it was really, really good.

Just good people, fun times, you know?

And I've had a lot a lot of things that are that I've been able to experience over the years.

This is my 32nd year, so I don't know.

I don't know.

You know, I can say I see the finish line.

I don't know where it's at yet, but I can see it down the road somewhere.

So it you know, I'm just excited about everything that God has done in my life and the opportunities that I've had.