LEXINGTON — A familiar face will lead the Lexington Minutemen through a difficult transition this fall.
Offensive coordinator Jacob Owens was unanimously approved as the new head football coach during a special board meeting Wednesday, less than a month after the death of Andrew Saris.
“Obviously this is a tough situation, but we’re back to football,” Owens said after addressing his players Wednesday evening. “A lot of times when kids are faced with a challenging situation, getting back to sports is what they need. They need that familiarity.
“I took this job for these kids. When the opportunity presented itself, there was never a doubt I would take the job.”
A 2009 Mansfield Senior graduate who played college basketball at Marietta, Owens was the offensive coordinator on Saris’ staff for the past three seasons. The Minutemen averaged 39.5 points a game last fall en route to an outright Ohio Cardinal Conference championship and a second straight playoff berth.
Lexington earned a first-round bye in Region 10 and fell to eventual Division III state runner-up Toledo Central Catholic in the regional quarterfinals.
“Jacob was a guy who we identified as the guy we wanted,” athletic director Jeff Eichorn said. “The continuity is probably the biggest thing and when I say continuity I mean with our players and with our coaches and with our administrators.
“He’s been here going on four years now. The players and the coaches are familiar with him.”
Owens doesn’t plan to reinvent the wheel in his first head coaching job.
“The good thing about Coach Saris was he allowed me to be the head coach of the offense,” Owens said. “He gave me the autonomy to run the offense the way I wanted to.
“Coach Saris always included his assistants because delegation builds trust.”
Lex lost a talented 20-man senior class to graduation. That group included Brayden Fogle, Owens’ stepson who is now at Georgia, and Michigan State recruit Joe Caudill.
“Everyone is saying, ‘You lost all those seniors and all those Division I guys,’ ” Owens said. “This group already was counted out, but now they have an opportunity to prove everybody wrong.”
The Minutemen will dedicate their season to their late coach’s memory.
“I told the kids every time we step in the locker room or the film room or the weight room or on the field, we should have Coach Saris in our hearts,” Owens said. “We should have the same selflessness that he brought to the team and we should play for him every single snap.”