BREAKING NEWS...Lapeer East hires football coaches

Lapeer East appoints Weingartz as new football coach
By Andrew Selich
Sports Editor
LAPEER — While looking to secure the future of their football program, Lapeer East Athletic Director Jack Lindell decided to look into the past.
Lapeer East High School officially announced this week that 2003 East graduate Jake Weingartz has been named the seventh varsity football coach in the school’s 33-year history. Weingartz, a recent graduate of Wayne State University, will assume the duties immediately and preparation has already begun for the upcoming 2008 season.
Weingartz is the first coach in the school’s history to also graduate from Lapeer East, which is something that Lindell admits has already added to the excitement of the upcoming football campaign.
“That has added a lot to it, yes,” Lindell said. “The whole community knows him, and if they don’t they soon will. The fact that Jake played for us and the fact that he has had some success on the football field just adds to the excitement of the upcoming season.
“Jake has a lot of energy and he is committed to the future of this program.”
Weingartz played for former coach Brad Gerlach from 2000-02 and was the Eagles’ MVP following the 2001 and 2002 seasons. During that time, Weingartz played with some big names in the annals of Lapeer East football, including Drew Schaft and Jake Long, the latter who is close to perhaps being the number one draft pick in the upcoming National Football League draft.
“Jake Weingartz and Jake Long are best friends,” Lindell said. “The fact that Weingartz has that type of connections, that of Jake Long and of his other connections made while he played at Wayne State University..those type of connections can only help the Lapeer East program. That type of exposure will help ensure that our numbers will grow.
“That and as soon as Jake Weingartz begins to set his program in, I just the area will respond.”
After a career at Lapeer East that left Weingartz as the school’s all-time leading receiver (104 catches for 1,680 yards and 19 TDs), Weingartz played for four years at Wayne State University. In his senior season with the Warriors, Weingartz caught 43 passes for 847 yards and 12 TDs. Most importantly, his time at Wayne State prepared him for the job that, according to Lindell, has been a dream position for Weingartz ever since he played for the Eagles.
“Jake grew up here,” Lindell said. “He is from Lapeer and he told me that it was dream to always come back and run the Lapeer East football team. We had a solid group of applicants, somewhere over 30 people who applied for the job, but there was just something about Jake that set him apart. When I spoke to coaches at Wayne State, they when Jake played, it was like having another coach on the field.
“He was a unanimous decision by our board as our next coach.”
One factor that may have led to Weingartz getting the job was his desire to stay in the position for a long time. Weingartz has already intimated to Lindell that he has no intentions of leaving Lapeer East any time soon, which was important to give the kids on the football team a sense of continuity in the program.
“Jake was an assistant to Coach Brett Moore last year,” Lindell said. “I don’t know what his exact plans are, but the fact that Jake worked with Moore allows the kids, especially the seniors, a chance to play for a new coach but not exactly have to learn an all new system. That sort of consistency is how you build a program into a state-power, which is where we want to go.
“And we think that Jake can take us there.”
If there’s anything that the Lapeer East fans hope, it is that Weingartz makes good on his word to stay. In the thirty years of the high school, Weingartz is the seventh coach of the football, not too bad except for the fact that he is also the fourth in the last seven years. Brad Gerlach left after the 2001 season. Matt Topie led Lapeer East to the school’s only Flint Metro League title after the 2004 season and left soon after that. Brett Moore guided the Eagles over the last three seasons, but he left in January to take a similar position at Walled Lake Northern. So the prospect of having Weingartz stay with the program over an extended period could greatly benefit the Eagles.
“Look at programs like Oxford and Linden,” Lindell said. “Those two coaches have been in those positions, leading those schools for a very long time. And they are very successful in our conference. We want to be like that and in order to do so, we need a sense of consistency. The fact that Jake is young and is committed to us leads me to believe that he will be here in charge for a very long time.”
Despite his young age (23), Lindell believes that Weingartz is the man who will eventually lead Lapeer East to greatness.
“He is ready,” Lindell said. “No matter what his age is. I believe wholeheartedly in Jake Weingartz as our coach and I truly do think that he will turn this program around.
“His enthusiasm to be here is what makes me believe.”
Andrew Selich is Sports Editor at The County Press. He can be reached at (810) 664-0811 ext. 8124 or andrew.selich@lapeergroup.com.