PARKERSBURG — Although it took a little bit of work, first-year Parkersburg High School head football coach Matt Kimes has assembled his staff for the upcoming campaign.
“We met for the first time as a staff on Wednesday,” said the former Warren High boss, who brought ex-Warrior assistants Alex Ash (quarterbacks), Sean Smith (offensive analyst) and DJ Carozza (defensive line) with him.
“Basically, just getting everyone comfortable with their roles. It’s the first time some guys met each other, putting a face to a name and figure out who is going to be working together.”
Mike Kupfner has been tabbed as the Big Reds’ defensive coordinator and Kimes is going to handle the play-calling duties for the offense.
“I did it for six years at (Parkersburg) South,” said Kimes, who acted as the defensive coordinator during his three-year head coaching stint at Warren.
“I felt like as head coach I wanted to be primarily involved in offensive play calling, at least for the first year and adjust from there.”
The head man said Kupfner “is a really good young coach and I’m really excited about seeing him grow as a coordinator.”
Rick Farley also will help out in the trenches on defense. The offensive line will be led by Zach Nolan with help from Brandon Gregory. The other offensive coaches are Tom Harvey (running backs) and Jeremy Bell (receivers/tight ends).
Lance Binegar is set to coach the linebackers and is the special teams coordinator. Dave Parsons (cornerbacks) and Stephen Roush (safeties) will be joined by defensive analyst Jason Woodyard, who Kimes said was part of the staff when the Big Reds won back-to-back Class AAA state championships in 2006-07.
“We’re going to start having weekly staff meetings on Sunday evenings to make sure everybody is on the same page with verbiage and schemes,” added Kimes, who has Dan Lott serving as the weight room supervisor.
“We’re working on the summer calendar and figuring out what guys’ vacations are. We’re going to start hosting position meetings next month and what days guys can come in and do that, and then they can start teaching them stuff.”
The Big Reds are expected to use some flex days prior to the three-week summer coaching period that runs from June 13 to July 1.
PHS will be at St. Marys’ 7-on-7 on June 13 and also will compete at 7-on-7s for the Mountain State Athletic Conference and at the end of June at the University of Pittsburgh.
“We’ve been working hard the last five, six weeks,” added Kimes. “The kids are hungry to show the work they’ve been putting in and they are excited about the process I’ve brought. They are working hard and motivating each other.”
Kimes said his 20-plus year networking was key in helping put the staff together.
“They understand how tradition-strong the program is and what kind of coach I am and I’m excited about the staff I was able to build,” continued the head man. “The pieces kind of fell in place. Everybody seems to be really happy with their role and they are really excited to get going. I know of everyone or know everyone pretty well. It was a super stressful thing, but it’s super important.
“It’s probably the most important thing I do year one, to get these guys in the right places to mentor our guys. More than half are former Big Reds. A handful of us are first team all-staters and a handful of us have won state championships. We know what it takes to get to the top and we’re excited to teach these guys what it takes to get there.”
Parkersburg opens the season on Friday, Aug. 26 when St. Albans invades Stadium Field.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com