John Mustain had a successful run as the head coach at James Monroe.
He led the Mavericks to the Class AA semifinals in 2016, falling on the road to eventual champion Mingo Central, before leading a return trip to the playoffs in 2017.
After the 2017 season though he decided to retire.
Now after three years away he’s back in the saddle, replacing Chris Boothe as the new head coach of the Mavericks.
“Lord I’ve been asked why I came back and I really don’t have an answer,” Mustain said. “James Monroe just means a lot to me and the opportunity came back up. I had actually done a little bit of coaching in Giles County (Virginia) with some little league football, running the single wing. I hadn’t completely gotten out of it because I have some grandsons over here. But I don’t really have much of an answer other than the opportunity arose and I took advantage of it.”
For Mustain there isn’t much familiarity with this group of players. The last group he coached graduated last year but so far the response to his return has been positive.
“I kind of felt like I picked up where I left off,” Mustain said. “I actually started going to the weight room with Mitchell Boone, one of our assistant coaches in February, which was a little over a month or so before I got the position. So several of these kids I’ve had a rapport with for a little while. They’re a good bunch of kids. A hard working bunch and they’re receptive to coaching. They listen and do their best to execute the way we’re trying to teach them, but it’s been a joy.
“I told a group of parents the other night that they already feel like family. And believe it or not, one of my problems is remembering names but I’ve got them all down now.”
Mustain is also walking into a much different situation than he left. His last game marked the last time the Mavs made the playoffs but the landscape has changed. His players were limited to just four games due to the coronavirus numbers in Monroe County. The Mavericks have also dropped down a class. The 2020-21 school year marked the first year for James Monroe as a Class A school.
That’s still an adjustment Mustain’s trying to navigate.
“I think the biggest difference to me is the number of kids we have,” Mustain said. “It looks like we’re going to have about 40 players. I’m used to anywhere from 50 to 55, even up to 60. To me that’s the biggest difference I’m seeing right now. A lot of people get it in their head that we’ve dropped down to single-A and the championships are just going to come rolling in but you still have tough competition.
“We have a very difficult schedule in my mind and we still have three double-As on there as well. Even the single-A schedule is just as difficult. As far as that goes it’s going to be just as competitive as it’s ever been, but the biggest adjustment I have to make is the numbers.”
As a coach that likes to run the ball, Mustain believes his team is suited to do so. He likes the group he has up front on the offensive line which includes a mix of older, experienced players as well as younger, talented ones.
“I feel like we have a lot of interchangeable parts,” Mustain said. “We only have six seniors, maybe eight. But we have a small senior class so we have a lot of younger kids. We’ve got at least one freshman that’s going to be starting on the offensive end and maybe defensive line. I’ve kept up with the kids the last few years. We have some size up front with Dylan Brim, Jeffery Jones, Brady Baker, Jakobey Meadows and Jacob Hall who are our leading candidates for the offensive line and they’re a pretty solid bunch. Then there’s some juniors behind that group and there’s maybe another freshman or two that can give us some time down the line.”
That group will be blocking for a versatile set of skill position players. Interchangeable is the word that continuously comes to mind when Mustain talks about this group. It mostly stems from the fact he has several players he feels can step in and play multiple positions on offense.
“As far as the skills, we’ve got about four kids that can play quarterback and play it pretty well,” Mustain said. “Probably to start out it’ll be Josiah Hodges with Cooper Ridgeway as the tailback. As far as our wings we’re looking at people like Braydie Carr, Grant Lively, Chaz Boggs, Ethan Ganoe, Dylan Page. Those kids are going to see some time for us. But Cooper can play quarterback and Eli Allen is playing this year for us. He can play quarterback and we like him a lot at wide receiver too. He’s just a good athlete.
“I actually coached his mother in softball years ago at Union High School and she was a good athlete and of course his father played football at WVU and played Minor League Baseball. He comes from good stock and he’s very coachable. Cameron Thomas will be one of our ends, Cameron Jones is another one and Jordan Feamster. I just feel like we’ve got a lot of interchangeable parts. We’ve got a freshman quarterback in Layton Dowdy and we expect good things from down the road, so I just feel like we’ve got a lot of talent.”
Contact Tyler Jackson at tylerjackson@lootpress.com, call him at 304-731-5542 and follow on Twitter @tjack94
Schedule
1 08/27/21 7:30PM A – SHERMAN –
2 09/03/21 7:30 PM H – PENDLETON COUNTY –
3 09/10/21 7:30PM A – GREENBRIER WEST –
4 09/17/21 7:30PM H – MEADOW BRIDGE HIGH –
5 09/24/21 7:00 PM A – COVINGTON, VA H.S. –
6 10/01/21 7:30PM A – PIKEVIEW –
7 10/08/21 OPEN –
8 10/15/21 7:30PM H – MIDLAND TRAIL HIGH SCHOOL –
9 10/22/21 7:30PM H – LIBERTY (RALEIGH) –
10 10/29/21 7:30 PM A – NICHOLAS COUNTY –
11 11/05/21 7:30PM H – SUMMERS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL –
Roster
# Pos. Name Gr Ht Wt Avg
2 WR/DB Cameron Jones 10 5’8” 136
3 RB/DB Chaz Boggs 10 5’6” 157
5 WR/ DB Hayden Parker 11 5’10 146
7 RB/LB Cooper Ridgeway 10 5’10” 173
8 WR/DB Kelvin Clarkson 11 5’9” 119
9 QB/DB Layton Dowdy 9 5’10” 144
10 RB/DB Wilson Boggess 9 5’6” 118
11 RB/DB Jamey Miller 10 5’9” 132
12 RB/DB Braydie Carr 11 5’10” 167
13 WR/DB James Allen 11 6’2” 160
14 WR/DB Hunter Hylton 9 5’2” 113
15 RB/DE/LB Dylan Page 12 5’8 146
16 QB/DB Josiah Hodges 11 5’9” 154
19 OL/LB Granger Gore 11 5’10” 168
20 WR/DB Evan Hunter 11 6’ 145
22 RB/LB Ethan Ganoe 11 5’10 182
23 E/LB Jordan Feamster 12 6’ 189
24 RB/ DB Grant Lively 12 5’7 160
26 TE/ LB Cameron Thomas 12 6’3 192
31 TE/LB Jacob Clarkson 10 5’5” 151
33 RB/DB Michael Hawkey 9 5’6” 142
34 RB/DB Bentley Dowdy 9 5’7” 140
45 RB/DB Wyatt Lilly 9 5’5” 144
50 OL/DL Jackson Phipps 10 6’1” 195
52 OL/DL Kenneth Ballengee 9 6’ 196
54 OL/DL Jacob Hall 10 5’9” 245
55 OL/DL Gavin French 9 6’ 180
56 OL/DL Timothy Howard 9 5’7” 238
58 OL/DL Baylee Ridgeway 9 5’7” 175
59 OL/DL Jace Walton 10 5’10” 212
60 OL/ DL Jakobey Meadows 12 5’8 280
61 OL/DL Jacob Proffitt 11 5’10” 257
63 OL/ DL JEFFERY JONES 11 6’4 295
64 OL/DL Brady Baker 9 6’1” 292
67 OL/DL Hunter Jones 10 6’2” 270
68 OL/DL Colton Wilson 9 5’3” 189
69 OL/DL Howard Shamblen 9 5’6” 215
76 OL/DL DYLAN BRIM 12 6’3 245