Eaton High School (EHS) is known for its outstanding athletic programs. Football, cross country, volleyball, golf, basketball, track and field, swimming, wrestling, softball, marching band, and baseball are all offered at EHS. As the sports and amount of athletes stay consistent at EHS, coaching staffs have seemingly increased in turnover rates.
Starting the 2023 to 2024 school year, football, cross country, basketball, and track and field all encountered new coaching staff additions. When Zac Lemon, former head football coach, became the Athletic Director of EHS, Cameron Stewart, previous assistant coach stepped into his place. Stewart is also a current physical education teacher and previous basketball coach at EHS. Lemon coached football at EHS for 10 years and luckily still gets to resonate with the sports teams at EHS. “I kind of always knew it would be that path because I finished my administration degree a couple years ago. By getting my administration degree I was kind of in the mindset that at some point I would be an administrator and that time presented itself. It was a surprise to all when Longwell announced his retirement as we thought he would go maybe a couple more years and so really it was just based on the opportunity more than anything. I was mentally prepared for the opportunity, it just came a little faster than I thought it would, but I couldn’t miss the chance at staying in Eaton and becoming an athletic director,” said Lemon.
In 2023, Jaryn Guerra, EHS Language Arts teacher and cross country and track and field coach, resigned from coaching cross country due to the new addition of her daughter to her family. By the start of the 2023 to 2024 school year, EHS welcomed Rebecca Bautista to the team as the head cross country coach. Unfortunately, for the 2024 to 2025 school year, Bautista will not be coaching and is resigning from EHS after the spring of 2024 as she and her husband move on to the state of Wyoming.
In the winter of 2023, EHS also welcomed Tanner Ervin as the head coach of the boys basketball team because previous coach Dean Grable resigned after 19 years. “The seniors I had made it the hardest part to leave. If you look at my own family, my kids graduated, I am an empty nester, and all of them are doing college athletics. I knew we were going to be doing a lot of traveling and following them. So that was the ultimate reason and I go on a lot of road trips with my wife. Also between football, indoor track, outdoor track, and basketball schedules, we are just busy,” said Grable.
Starting off the 2024 spring season, the track and field team faced many obstacles to overcome in finding a solidified coaching staff. As former jumping coach, Ryan Wasilawski, resigned after 10 years, EHS was in a difficult position to find a new coach. Wasilawski said, “It’s always hard to leave behind a passionate group of coaches and athletes. Since I started coaching at Eaton, other schools have commented on our talent, hard work, and professionalism. I look forward to seeing the athletes that continue that legacy.” Luckily EHS welcomed jumping coach Schuyler Otani to the team before the season started.
The team also lost previous throwing coach Grace Whyrick after the 2023 season. To fill the throwing coach position, EHS officially welcomed Dan Aleman to the team as the head throwing coach. Aleman previously helped coach the throwing team, but has now taken the title of head throwing coach. On the field, the team also lost the previous pole vaulting coach, Austin Gollobith. Gollobith previously coached for two years on the team, helping multiple athletes qualify for state pole vault championships. Following his loss from the team, EHS welcomed Mike Pearson as the pole vault coach. Pearson is also the wood shop teacher at EHS.
Not only is turnover hard on a school to find new coaches, but it is hard on the team of athletes that will have to adapt to the new coaching styles. Routine is key to consistency, which teams strive on. Coincidentally EHS has faced many challenges with coach turnover in the 2023 to 2024 school year, but the Red athletes have adapted adequately. Team culture may have been lost in the mix of the turnover, but new traditions are to come with the change.
Although EHS athletics have faced large amounts of turnover in the past year, the teams are exceeding expectations. As athletics continue to grow in the coming years, EHS will continue to prioritize their athletics, athletes, and coaching staff as a part of the Reds family.
