Keep it Moving

Football’s new head coach, Jermel Jones, has big goals for his team

Home. That’s how Jermel Jones describes Orlando. After coaching high school in Tennessee, Jones was excited to find out Lyman was looking for a new head coach back in the area he loves.

“Knowing that I was going to be home again,” Jones said. “It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Learning that Lyman had not had a winning season since the 2009-2010 school year, Jones knew that he wanted to put together a coaching staff that would win games and a team that his hometown could celebrate. 

“I thought that we were going to have a good opportunity to turn this program around,” Jones said. “And it’s not just the program, but also this community as well.”

This season so far, Jones is really proud of his athletes. They have lived up to his expectations of behaving on and off the field. He only has one goal left for the team, win games. Jones believes that once we win one game, then we are going to win one more, and it will keep going. 

“We are just looking for that one and then after we get that one, we are going to get that two and continue to move,” Jones said.

One thing that has surprisingly not affected this season is COVID-19. The football team has not had many quarantines or illnesses. Jones is hoping that the rest of the season will stay on track with no interruptions. 

“We’re knocking on wood that we can continue to have the success that we’ve had, with not having any guys be sick, and to not have many guys be quarantined with issues with Covid.”

Lyman won big during their preseason game, but hasn’t been able to get a win during the regular season — yet. Jones still believes that he and his staff can turn this program around. He says that it will take some time, and his athletes will have to be patient, but Jones truly thinks that we are going to be a household name. 

“It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” Jones said. 

cover photo by Jordyn Dearth