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Lindell wanted the sort of coaching consistency at Lapeer East that Oxford has had with Bud Rowley. Lindell wanted the type of longevity in a coaching tenure that Lapeer West as experienced with coach Mike Smith.

After an exhaustive search of candidates, it appears that Lindell made the right choice in hiring Jake Weingartz as the next coach of the Eagles.

Weingartz, a 23-year old alumni of Lapeer East, admits that the position of head varsity coach at Lapeer East is something of a dream come true.

"I knew I wanted to be the head football coach at East since I was in the eighth grade," Weingartz said. "I knew that I wanted this when I played for East and I knew I wanted this when I was in college at Wayne State. I was a film-junkie there, and I was always preparing myself for this role.

"I always wanted to be back here at Lapeer East and I plan on being here until I'm old and I can't walk anymore."

After waiting a few months after the announcement of his hiring to take the field as the new head coach, Weingartz admitted that he was probably more excited for the beginning of training camp than most of his players were. After all, he was standing in their shoes not too long ago when East was winning more games than they have over the past few seasons.

Weingartz was a member of the Lapeer East football team that went 9-2 and 5-1 in the Flint Metro League back in 2002, as his offensive coordinator Drew Schaft. Schaft was the quarterback that season, but Weingartz said that the parents of his players have had no problem accepting him and Schaft as the new men in charge of the Eagles football program.

"The parents here have been good to me," Weingartz said. "I think they recognized that what East needed more than anything was someone to come in and put in the time and effort to make this a top-notch program. I think there was a lack of leadership here in the past and I hope that the parents have seen the change we have brought to East.

"That and they see their kids buying into it."

Lapeer has had just three winning seasons in the past 15 seasons, so one of Weingartz's first tasks will be to instill a winning attitude at a school that has not had much success lately.

Weingartz knows that not much was expected of the East football team before his arrival, but he hopes that through his hard work and dedication to change that the players will follow suit.

"We were just 4-5 a year ago, so we have some work to do," Weingartz said. "It seems like we win some games and then go and lose the other ones that we should win. We need to play consistent ball and that all starts in practice with hard work and a commitment to improvement.

"I'm starting to see that in my team this year."

Weingartz admits that his team has a long way to go until they get to where he wants them to be, but he also knows that a good start to the season will go a long way toward convincing everyone in the community that the Eagles are on the right track.

This season, Lapeer East returns a lot of team speed from a year ago. Mix that with some good size on the offensive and defensive fronts and it becomes easy to see why optimism has returned to the practice fields at Lapeer East.

Senior quarterback Ryan Springsteen is back for his second season in charge of the offense, and Weingartz says that his signal caller has the speed and intelligence to run his offense. Fellow senior Drew Powell will line up as a wide receiver on offense and a free safety on defense, two positions which will allow him to use his speed to the Eagles advantage.

Up front on the offensive line, East's Austin Green (6-6, 240) will anchor the line at one tackle position. Green was an Honorable Mention selection at OL in the Flint Metro League a year ago. Fellow senior Matthew Colley will line up at the other tackle position while Payton McCallum will play guard for the offense.

Being that Weingartz is only 23-years old, the fact that he says he will be at Lapeer East for many years to come is not unfathomable. In fact, his statements regarding his desire to turn things around at East sound convincing when you hear him say it.

"There is no place else I would rather be," Weingartz said. "I don't think I've ever been so excited for anything ever before. Being the head coach at Lapeer East is a dream come true."

Andrew Selich is Sports Editor at The County Press. He can be reached at (810) 664-0811 ext. 8124 or andrew.selich@lapeergroup.com.