As Farmersville head football coach Zac Quinlan takes over the program, he’s beginning to fill out his coaching staff.

The coach named Stephen Blassingame his defensive coordinator and Josh Howard his offensive coordinator – the position previously held by Quinlan. Before naming the new coordinators, coach Quinlan stressed the importance of finding internal candidates after coaching changes in each of the last two seasons.

Blassingame, also the boys basketball coach, earned the promotion after spending last season as the inside linebackers coach. Howard, also the girls track and field coach, moves up after spending last season as the quarterbacks coach.

“My goal originally was to create some continuity for our kids,” Quinlan said. “We’re going to do some different things on defense, but I wanted to get somebody who the kids were used to and that I trusted to handle the job. Offensively, Josh was a big part of what we did last season and knows exactly what we want to do this season.”

Blassingame takes over the position after the Farmers struggled on defense most of last season. The team surrendered 41.4 points per game last season, including 60 points in two different district games. While the coaching staff creates continuity, coach Blassingame expects a shift in the defensive approach.

“Under the leadership of coach Quinlan I think we’ll see a lot of discipline on the field this season,” Blassingame said. “We’ve talked to the kids and we think they’re excited to run a defense that we believe will allow them to show off their athleticism a little bit.”

Coach Quinlan was noncommittal on exactly what the new scheme will be heading into the 2022 season but was adamant about his desire to be able to change their looks and create mismatches for the defense.

“We’re just trying to become a more sound defense in what we’re doing,” Quinlan said. “The new scheme will allow us to fly around to the football, but it will also allow us to be versatile in our coverages and give us more advantages on the field.”

Coach Blassingame is excited about the job and the opportunity to lead the Farmers defense. In just his second year at Farmersville, he said the team has to rebuild its confidence on defense to find success.

“We’ve got to tackle and have multiple guys to the ball at all times,” Blassingame said. “Defense is a passion and I want to see our defensive players having a good time on the field and making big plays.”

To read the full story, see next week’s issue of The Farmersville Times. Support your community newspaper for less than $40 a year.

By Kyle Grondin • [email protected]