TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The John Paul II Panthers have had to get used to a new coach this year, but there's always the same goal, and that is to win.
Cedric Jones enters his first year as a high school head coach at John Paul after assisting at Lincoln for the past three seasons. He inherits a Panther program that set a school record in wins last season at 5-5, and he also returns a core group of kids, fourteen who were freshmen last year.
Jones said he's had to train these kids like a Division I program, instilling a strength and conditioning program to make the team better and with his defensive background, expect a lot from the Panthers with a coach who was impressed coming in.
"To tell you the truth, I didn't expect a lot," said coach Jones of when he arrived at John Paul. "When I got there, and had a chance to watch film and had a chance to meet with the kids, they literally jumped off the page at me. It was an eye opener, of how much talent was actually there and not a drop off. I try to tell teams, teams that I've coached before, even when I was over at Lincoln, the goal was always 40 plays a game. Don't give their offense more then 40 plays a game. That's what we're going to try to do when we're out on the field."
John Paul II opens up regular season play August 28th when they host St. Francis.
