Football staff now complete

The Panthers gained an additional coach in veteran Aaron Meier

Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader
Siloam Springs head football coach Brandon Craig goes over plays during a morning workout session in June. The Panthers are off this week but are scheduled to resume morning workouts on Monday, July 6.
Graham Thomas/Herald-Leader Siloam Springs head football coach Brandon Craig goes over plays during a morning workout session in June. The Panthers are off this week but are scheduled to resume morning workouts on Monday, July 6.

SILOAM SPRINGS -- The Siloam Springs High School's football coaching staff is complete for the 2020 season.

Veteran coach Aaron Meier, who's a former head coach at Catoosa, Okla., will be joining the varsity staff, head coach Brandon Craig said. Meier was hired at a School Board meeting June 11.

Meier and Craig are familiar with each other as their schools played each other when Meier was at Catoosa and Craig at Oologah, Okla.

Craig said Meier will be a solid addition to the staff.

"It's really exciting that we got to hire a guy with head coaching experience," Craig said. "You know he's coached in Texas, coached in Oklahoma. I competed against him for nine years. ... Our teams always had really heated contests. Our teams were really competitive against each other. It was a lot of fun."

Meier resigned at Catoosa after the 2018 season and was out of football for a year, Craig said.

"He wanted to get back into coaching and he called me and asked if there was ever an opening he would be interested," Craig said. "We just got lucky enough this time to be able to squeeze him in. I'm really excited to have a guy on staff that can bring a lot to the press box on Friday nights."

Meier won more than 70 games at Catoosa, which Craig said is similar in makeup to Siloam Springs.

"It's very similar to Siloam in the makeup of who we're coaching," Craig said. "He's going to be able to relate to our kids really well. And I think he brings a lot of excitement and energy. He's just a guy that's going to bring a lot of excitement to the program."

Meier will coach H-backs and tight ends and be an offensive analyst in the press box, Craig said. He will collaborate with Craig on play-calling, Craig said.

In other coaching news, Michael Smith moves to the offensive side of the ball as wide receivers coach after spending last season as outside linebackers coach. He'll also be the special teams coordinator.

Jonathan Johnson returns as the Panthers' offensive line coach and freshmen head coach.

Cole Harriman is back for his third season as the Panthers' defensive coordinator, and he'll work directly with the defensive backs and safeties. Harriman also is a freshmen assistant coach.

Tony Coffey will coach high school linebackers, while Ehldane Labitad will coach varsity defensive line and serve as an assistant for the eighth-grade team.

Craig coaches quarterbacks and running backs and play-caller.

Luke Shoemaker is coaching the freshmen team's offensive and defensive lines.

Dwain Pippin is the seventh- and eighth-grade head coach.

Chuck Jones joins Pippin and Labitad on the eighth-grade staff, while Alan Hardcastle and Henry Janes are on the seventh-grade staff.

Craig said it's a good collection of coaches to work with.

"When you come into a situation you never know what you're getting into," Craig said. "I've been fortunate to come into a group of guys that want to work hard. I went over and looked at our junior high the other day and they had really good numbers showing up in June, which that's new for us. I'm really excited about that. We're just hoping we've turned the corner as well for what expectations are. I think the kids are starting to understand, hey, it's really important that you're there in the summer if you're going to have a chance to win in the fall. That's all you get is a chance."

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