There's plenty of optimism

as â€‹Walker introduces Jays' staff

April 19, 2018

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- There's been something in the air concerning our local sports in recent days.

Besides snowflakes at baseball games in April.

It's the buzz around the Jefferson City Jays football program under Terry Walker, as the first-year coach has been busy assembling his staff.

This is no small or insignificant endeavor --- if the Jays ever want to be relevant again on the Missouri stage, it's an absolute must.

"I think if there's one lesson I learned at Blair Oaks, it's exactly that," Walker said. "I can have the best ideas or the best practice schedules or whatever it might be, but you've got to have great people around you.

"If you look at any successful organization --- it's made up of the leadership, obviously --- but the leadership has to trust the people around them to do their job. I was definitely not the best coach (at Blair Oaks), but I had a bunch of guys around me who are great coaches and they did a great job. Consequently, the kids were successful."

"That's what we want to do here."

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BEFORE A BIG AND OPTIMISTIC GATHERING Thursday night, Walker announced his coaching staff --- a few old names, a few new names, and perhaps a surprise or two --- during a dinner and fundraiser at The Millbottom.

There are certainly no guarantees, especially in the early years for a new head coach. But this appears to be a great start.

"I'm very excited about the guys we have," Walker said. "We have great coaches of fundamentals and we have great scheme coaches, and I think we have a great blend between the two.

"I think they'll balance-out each other very well."

We'll start with family, as Terry's younger brother, Steve Walker, is leaving Eldon to join the Jays' staff.

"We've been talking about it for years, about the opportunity to coach together.," Terry said of Steve, who will coach linebackers and running backs. "I had brow-beat him for the three years I was at Blair Oaks to join me, but I could never talk him into it. But once I got this position, he wanted to coach at his alma mater just as badly as I did.

"I'm just incredibly fortunate and happy that we're going to have this opportunity."

Also from Eldon, the Jays have landed head coach Shannon Jolley, who transformed the Mustangs from doormats to relevance during his 10 years at the helm.

"He had a ton of success at Eldon, he's got great leadership characteristics, and he can motivate the kids," Walker said of Jolley, who will coach the offensive and defensive lines.

"He's not only a great football coach," Walker continued, "he's great with strength and conditioning. He far exceeds my knowledge ... he really excels in that area. His teams have always been well conditioned and very strong kids."

The coaches following Walker from Blair Oaks include veteran Kirk Obermiller, who has a long pedigree of success.

Obermiller has been a part of no less 16 state championship teams at JCHS, starting in 1976 when he was a key player on the Jays' first state title team. He returned to the school as a coach in 1985, and was an assistant on six more state football championship teams and nine more in track and field.

"That's remarkable," Walker said of Obermiller, "and that fact is not lost on our players. We will routinely remind the players that the guys standing around them on the circle probably have 20 to 30 state championships among them, and Obie leads the way.

"They know what it takes to win. The kids should take some comfort in that, knowing that the guy who's coaching them knows exactly what they need to do if they want to go where they want to go."

Obermiller will coach the defensive backs, while Dr. William Duke --- who's also coming from Blair Oaks --- will coach quarterbacks and linebackers.

"I knew I wanted him," Walker said. "I told him that if things didn't work out at Blair Oaks, there would always be a spot for him here, if he wanted it. He's just a great teacher, a great football coach."

"He's a student of the game. He's got a analytical mind when it comes to breaking down a defense or breaking down an offense, he's a great X's and O's guy, and he's a very good fundamentals guy."

Steve Samson will coach running backs and safeties, while J.R. Simmons will lead scouting and film work.

Holdovers from the previous Jefferson City staff are Cameron McDaniel (offensive, defensive lines) and Scott Gschwender (cornerbacks, wide receivers).

"I started with a list of guys when I got hired in January," Walker said, "and there's probably been 50 different guys that I've talked to. I'd really targeted a number of guys for the varsity level, and I've pretty much gotten every guy I wanted.

"So I feel very happy with how it's turned out. I feel like we've got the guys in the right spots and now, I'll just let them do their jobs."

The offensive and defensive coordinators will be named at a later date, Walker said, and he also noted one more assistant may be named in the near future.

Lastly, there are two more coaches who aren't officially on the staff, but will be more than happy to lend a helping hand to Walker.

Pete Adkins and Ron Cole.

"I've been leaning on them ever since I came back (in 2013 as a Jays' assistant after retiring from the Air Force)," Walker said. "A lot of times at Blair Oaks, I would seek their advice ... both have been willing to help with anything I've asked them to do.

"I'm sure that will continue."

Walker has yet to win a game as coach of the Jays. But you just get the feeling, fans already feel like they've won a big one.

On a night that was all about coaches, first-year Jefferson City Jays head coach Terry Walker (right) and retired Hall of Fame coach Pete Adkins (second from left) chat with supporters Thursday night at The Millbottom.

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