Basketball, football… por qué no las dos?

Eldredge is officially the new head Varsity football coach, and he’s ready to make some serious changes to the team. The first thing he plans to do is make conditioning harder. A lot harder.

“They’re going to get their [butts] kicked,” said Eldredge. “Like yesterday, we ran a couple stadiums. For me, that’s a warm up. But those kids were dying.”

But the changes Eldredge plans to make run deeper than just making kids get a good workout in the offseason. He plans to change everything from the team’s work ethic to their attendance. And kids on the team are looking forward to that change.

“I’m excited. I know a lot of guys on the basketball team that say good things about him,” said sophomore Daniel Tobias.

Of course, football won’t be the only sport Eldredge coaches. He plans to continue coaching basketball as well. Coaching two sports will be time-consuming, especially considering the year round conditioning both teams do.

“It is going to be hard, but basketball is pretty much set up. Kids know what to expect, everything is running already,” said Eldredge.

Some of the school’s basketball players also play football, meaning Eldredge will be coaching some kids for two sports. The kids in this situation don’t mind that, however.

“I was excited [when I found out Eldredge was the new head coach]. I know him, so I know he’s a good coach. I think he’ll bring an uplifting spirit to the team,” said junior Jake O’Connell, who plays on both the football and basketball teams.

But when it comes to the fact that Eldredge is coaching next year, no one is more excited than Eldredge himself.

“I love football so much it hurts. And I haven’t been able to coach the past couple of years, and I really missed it,” said Eldredge.

Eldredge was a defensive back coach at Westfield, where his team won the State Championship in 2004. In high school, he played on the football team, and he even played a little in college.

“I played a year, and then I failed academically,” said Eldredge. “I was only getting a partial scholarship, so my mom was still forking over a good chunk of change. So she said ‘I’d rather you didn’t fail out.’ And I said ‘Okay.’”

Struggling in college gave Eldredge a new perspective when it comes to coaching too. He wants to not just coach a winning team, but also make sure kids are ready for life outside of high school.

“This is why Jason Eldredge is a coach: I want to help kids transition into college.  I want to help them be successful people,” said Eldredge.