High school football 2023: New Elyria coach Brian Fox, Pioneers ready to take on the challenge

Brian Fox didn't get any favors when he took over Elyria High's program this year after five successful seasons at Elyria Catholic. The Pioneers open with Cincinnati Princeton, a perennial playoff qualifier, and will play only four of their 10 games at Ely Stadium. On top of that, they'll open Southwestern Conference play against two of the league's powers in defending champion Avon and traditionally-tough Olmsted Falls. "It's not easy but, at the end of the day, that's what you expect," Fox said. "You don't go out with the goal of trying to find some easy wins. You go out with the goal of 'I want to be great.' Being great means opening yourself up to failure and opening yourself up to hardship. Without the hardship, you can't grow. "It's a matter of are you strong enough to endure and accept that the difficult things aren't always dealing with football? I don't want to go out and get that easy Week 1 opponent to go through a schedule with Avon and Avon Lake and Olmsted Falls in your conference." Elyria had a top-shelf senior class a year ago, including All-Ohio linebacker Isaiah Johnson and tailback Lance Glover, but Fox sees plenty of talent ready to fill the void. Junior Justin Godbolt, a relative of Tony Godbolt Sr. and Jr., icons from past successful EHS teams, is establishing himself at quarterback. "One thing we can fix is our communication, and know how to practice like Coach Fox says," Godbolt said. "My attitude last year wasn't good. I worked on that in the offseason. I needed to mature." Kevin Jordan Jr., a 5-foot-11, 225-pound running back, hopes to take Glover's place in the backfield and as a leader. "Last year I was in the background," he said. "This year, I have a bigger role on the team, like being a leader, someone the others can come to when something goes wrong. We need to come together like I know we can." Defense was Elyria's calling card last year but with its leading tackler, Johnson, off to college, someone needs to step in. Six-foot-1, 210-pound Braylon Riase has taken the challenge to heart. "My role is be a leader now that the seniors are gone," said Riase, a junior defensive end who had four sacks a year ago. "There's a lot on my shoulders, knowing I have to be a leader. My job is to teach the underclassmen, just like the upperclassmen taught me a year ago. We have to learn not to be selfish and start caring for one another." Fox has built a reputation as an offensive coach. He'll improvise and run plays according to the talents of his players. He'll definitely keep opposing defenses on their toes. "Every day is better than the last," Fox said. "It isn't easy. We ask a lot of the people in practice, offensively. We end up with 32 plays on 7-on-7, 32 on inside run and 60 in team. It's a limited tempo but it's just run and be physical that many times. We ask a lot because that's the way the game's look like. They're starting to learn it. They're starting to learn the tempo. It's great to see them out here working on it." Fox retained many of the previous assistant coaches at Elyria. "It's extremely important," he said. "Football is a game that's just a hyperbole of its human nature. You need relationships. You need to feel loved and know that you have their best interests at heart. We have a core of a bunch of coaches from the previous year that do have the kids' best interest and a love for them and a desire for them to be great." Fox's enthusiasm and passion for the game should make his transition from Elyria Catholic a successful one. His excitement to get started and face the challenge are reflected is his smile and love for the game. "Everything that I was excited about this job is shown to be something I should be pumped about," said Fox. "That was part of it. I joke with the kids. They talk about last year when they came out on the field (at EC for the season opener). I saw them run by and I was like 'oh, my goodness.' I had no idea how big they were until they were running by me. It was just an incredible pool of talent." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or at timothygeb@msn.com.