With two wins under their belts, the first two wins in two years, the coaching staff of the FCHS varsity football team is getting a closer look. While most are aware that the team is under the direction of new Head Coach Mitchell Pace, fewer aware of this year’s assistant coaches.
One is Coach Jay’von Jackson who teaches Health, PE, Drivers Education, and Weight Lifting at FCHS. Jackson went to Louisa County High School, went on to play football collegiately at Hampden-Sydney College, and then transferred to Old Dominion University where he graduated with his Bachelors of Science in Education. In addition to coaching football, Jackson also coaches basketball, and will be starting his sixth season coaching basketball this fall.
Having coached football for two years, Jackson said he likes being able to share his knowledge and experience of the game. “I like coaching football because it teaches young men about life lessons such as discipline, organization, commitment and teamwork that can be applied on and off the field,” he said.
Prior to this season, Jackson brought one year of experience coaching football as the JV football coach. He now focuses on coaching tight ends, wide receivers, and the defense Line, as well as coordinating special teams (the athletes who are on kick off and kick off return, as well as the field goal and punt teams).
Jackson’s goal for this football season is to teach the team how to become winners on and off the field. He says his motto for this season is “All Gas, No Breaks,” meaning that they are always moving forward, regardless of what difficult situation we are faced with.
“[Team members] will give it their all and can only be stopped by themselves,” he explained.
Joining Jackson on the field as assistant coach is Coach Brandon Townes. Townes works in the FCHS Special Education department, specifically in the ACE classes with Anita Burdine. Townes went to school at Louisa County High School and is currently taking sociology classes at PVCC.
Townes has been coaching football for six years now. “Coaching football is just a different challenge than playing football. Not all kids learn the same, so the real challenge as a coach is how to deliver the information so all athletes can grasp it,” he said.
He went on to explain that “two of those years were on the middle school level, and this will be my fourth year on the varsity level.” He said he started his coaching career as a little league flag football coach when he was 19-years-old.
Townes’ goal for the football season is for Flucos to become one unit, a family. His coaching motto this year is “trust the process.”
“We are doing things differently this year and sometimes it’s hard to adjust, but if we trust the process, success will follow,” he said.
The team beat Broadway 26-25 in their opening game of the season, followed by a 38-33 win against Chancellor at home on Sept. 8. Next up for the Flucos will be taking on Buckingham at home on Sept. 15.
