By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
EL DORADO - When Parkers Chapel qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 2009, Jacob Midyett was the quarterback.
Now at the age of 25 and just seven years removed from his graduation, Midyett takes over the Trojans’ football program as its new head coach.
Midyett succeeds James Housdan, who is moving into the school’s administration.
Midyett takes over a program that hasn’t posted a record of .500 or better since 2010 when the Trojans posted their lone playoff victory in the history of the program.
A multiple-sport standout during his career with the Trojans, Midyett is eager to get started.
“It’s a dream come true,” Midyett said. “It was always a goal of mine to come back and be a head coach at one point. It means a lot. The people mean a lot to me. It’s family. It’s where I grew up. It’s where I got started. It’s a big deal to me.”
After graduating from Parkers Chapel, Midyett played collegiately at Arkansas Tech until injuries forced him to stop playing.
Midyett immediately joined the coaching fraternity after departing Arkansas Tech by becoming the receivers coach at South Lafourche High School, a 4A school in Louisiana that’s about an hour from the Gulf of Mexico.
In his second year at South Lafourche, Midyett became the offensive line coach before becoming the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator last year.
Midyett has also been the school’s head baseball coach in each of the last two years after serving as an assistant in his first year.
Although some might point to his young age as a detriment, Midyett believes it’s a non-factor.
“I’ve never really let that be a factor in what I do,” Midyett said. “From an early age, I always played up and went against older kids. It never really even crossed my mind. Am I going to make mistakes? Sure. I’m not going to be perfect. I’m going to make rookie mistakes. But I think my age gives me a little more energy, it gives me a little more passion. I’m going to be fired up out there.
“You’re not going to be able to tell the difference between me and the kids on the sideline. I think that’s a plus. I think having energy, passion and being excited about your job breathes down to the kids.
“I’ve always seen it as a plus. I feel like I’m ready. I feel like the work I’ve done down here has prepared me. I feel like the head baseball job I have right now has prepared me. If you can do it with baseball parents, football parents are a lot easier. I’m excited. I’m ready to get started. I don’t really see my age as a holdback at all.”
Midyett added that his age will help him relate to his players.
“It’s a different age from when I was in high school,” Midyett said. “I sound like an old man saying this, but they’re different from when I was there. I think my age does help them relate to me a little bit. They won’t see me necessarily as some older guy they can’t talk to. Hopefully, they’ll be able to come to me and discuss problems and work through them.
“Obviously, respect will be something we’ve got to hit right off the bat, and what I’ve learned is I’ve got to be consistent. We’ve got to be consistent across the board. As long as I’m consistent, I feel like the respect will be handled.”
Being familiar with the program and its expectations will also help.
“Definitely,” Midyett said. “I think it gave me a leg up, especially in the application process. I know what kind of kids come through there. I know the mentality. I know what’s been successful and what hasn’t been successful.”
Midyett’s senior year was the Trojans’ best.
Parkers Chapel got off to a 6-0 start en route to going 8-3.
The Trojans posted an upset of Rison while adding wins over Union County foes Strong and Smackover.
In order to replicate that success, Midyett believes there is one thing he must get from the Trojans.
“I want more physicality,” Midyett said. “That was something I saw on film that we kind of lacked a little bit at times, so that’s going to be a big emphasis for us. Whether we’re spreading it out or under center, we’re going to be physical.
“That’s going to carry over. Offensively and defensively, our main goal is to be as physical as we can, overpower people and hit people in the mouth. That’s what we were successful with my senior year. Coach (Mark) King did a great job of coming in and bringing that mentality to us, so that’s really what I plan to bring in there regardless of what we run schematically.”
Midyett said he wanted to evaluate personnel before deciding on which schemes the Trojans will utilize on offense and defense, and he added that spring practice is a matter that will have to wait until he arrives.
As far as the staff is concerned, Midyett said he has been in touch with some of the assistants, but wasn’t sure if he would be able to make any additions.
“I’ve been in contact with coach (Steven) Bates and coach (Hunter) Vincent,” Midyett said. “I’ve kind of left coach (Mark) Looney alone because of baseball, and I know how that feels. I think we’re so far away from Arkansas that I don’t know if anybody is coming with me.
“Obviously, I’m trying to put the best staff I can together, so whether or not I get to bring somebody in will have to be a wait-and-see type thing. I’m confident with the staff that we have and the energy that they’ll bring and the knowledge that they have. Regardless of whether we get somebody in or not, I’m excited for what we’ve got.”
Midyett, who said he’s seen “bits and pieces” of the Trojans’ games on film from last year, will also be an assistant coach for a spring sports team in addition to being the head football coach.
After a three-year apprenticeship in Louisiana, Midyett is ready to leave his imprint on the program.
“I’m very excited to come home. I’m very excited for the opportunity,” Midyett said. “I’m excited to be back.”