Brainerd High School has made a football staff change, replacing head coach Marvin Jones with Stanley Jackson, who was an assistant last season.
Jones had been the Panthers’ head coach for five seasons and was an assistant for three years before that. He compiled a 24-30 overall record but took the team to the postseason three times, including last season when the Panthers finished 8-4 and lost in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs.
“You’re going to be a little disgruntled when you run a clean program and just had such a successful season,” Jones said. “If you stay anywhere for six or seven years, everything won’t be perfect, and we had a couple of down years, but we had been pretty good lately.
“Our school has had a lot of negative press this year, but the football team was one of the most positive stories we had.”
Brainerd was 4-25 in the three seasons before Jones took over.
“We just felt we needed to go in a new direction,” Brainerd principal Charles Joynes said. “We felt that with Coach Jackson’s experience and his knowledge of the community, he was the best choice for the job.”
Jones will remain on the Panthers’ staff as offensive line coach. Jackson first coached at Brainerd from 1996 to 2003, working as offensive and defensive coordinator on separate occasions. He then helped coach football at Howard for two years before coaching solely track and field there, leading the Lady Hustlin’ Tigers to a state championship in 2009. He returned to Brainerd before this school year.
“One of the first things I wanted to do was talk with Coach Jones and make sure he knew we wanted him to stay and that we were unified as a staff,” Jackson said. “I’ve met with all the returning players and let them know how committed I am to them and that I expect them to be just as committed to this team.
“There will be some noticeable changes for the players and coaches. We’ll have a no-cursing policy for coaches and won’t allow the players to wear saggy pants either at school or even in the community. They need to understand they represent Brainerd wherever they go and we want them to look nice but play mean.”