'I think we got a good one': Langermeier Era begins for ZHS football

ZANESVILLE — The search is over for Zanesville in its quest to find a new head football coach.

Their choice is one ever-so-eager to get started.

Troy "T.J." Langermeier, a 2011 graduate of West Jefferson High School and later Capital University, was approved earlier this week by the district's board of education to replace Chad Grandstaff, who resigned following a 15-year run at his alma mater.

Langermeier met with the team earlier in the week and tied loose ends with his school employment, where he will serve as an intervention specialist during the 2022-23 school year.

In his four-year playing career with the Rough Riders, where he was a three-sport athlete, his teams won four Mid-State League-Cardinal Division titles and were regional runner-up three times. They won four more MSL titles in wrestling, a stretch that also included two district championships.

He also coached linebackers for three years at Upper Arlington, receivers for two years at Capital and served as defensive coordinator and associated head coach at Amanda-Clearcreek the past two years.

He led an Aces defense that held eight opponents to 14 points or less during a 6-4 season in 2021, when they earned a first-round playoff win against Minford in Division V, Region 19, before falling in a tight battle in Week 12 with Canal Winchester Harvest Prep.

He cited Zanesville's history of success and willingness to support the programs played large roles in his pursuing the job. He was hired over 21 other candidates, a list that was whittled to five and later three.

"What I told them (in the interview) was what really attracted me to the job was coming from places like West Jefferson, Amanda-Clearcreek, Upper Arlington, those places anticipate and expect to have banners hanging up, and they take pride in it," Langermeier said. "It's the same thing that attracted me to Zanesville. There are banners hanging up because they expect it and they put the support behind it to make it happen."

Yet it was a tie to Zanesville that helped push him to the top of the pecking order.

He helped lead the Ohio Athletic Conference's No. 1-ranked passing offense at Capital in 2018, where two of his understudies were stars very familiar to Blue Devil fans — quarterback Thomas Wibbeler and receiver Dar Stanford. He was also a Crusader teammate of former Blue Devil linemen Zach Clapper and Will Weir.

The Wibbeler and Stanford duo, with Clapper helping pave the way up front, helped the 2013 Zanesville squad to a 13-1 record and a No. 2 ranking by the Associated Press in Division II. They are among the school's most respected young alumni.

Scott Aronhalt, Zanesville's longtime athletic director, said that tie to Zanesville no doubt helped his cause in the hiring process.

"They speak of him highly," Zanesville athletic director Scott Aronhalt said. "He had a great relationship with Granger Long, another one of our kids (on the 2013 team). They all were giving him five stars. That was really important to us."

Aronhalt said among the 22 candidates who applied, it was Langermeier who impressed the district's brass the most.

While he reiterated his previous statements when he said it's disappointing to lose Grandstaff, who left on his own accord, Aronhalt said Langermeier filled the necessary boxes in terms of their requirements.

Aronhalt cited his football knowledge, past success as a coach and focus on weight room training among the chief reasons he was hired.

"And this probably comes from his experience at Capital (during recruiting), but he's really people person," Aronhalt said. "Whether it's building relationships with teachers and coaches in other sports and kids he has coached, that's really important to him. Those things really sold us on him."

Langermeier said he prides himself on being energetic and someone to which people can relate. He said he will be visible at school events and in the community, much like he was in previous stops.

He's also a major proponent of sports sharing athletes to help all programs succeed, something Aronhalt said was another priority of the administration.

"I think that made people comfortable coming up and talking to me," Langermeier said. "I'm young, so I think that helps out, too. Sometimes being young isn't such a bad thing. It probably makes me a little more approachable, which is huge for kids. They see someone who was in their shoes not too long ago. I think it helps build those relationships quicker and makes it easier for them to come to me."

His current focus is making calls to assemble a coaching staff.

"We're about (96) days from kickoff, so it's important we get the right guys in place, because guys are going to have to be good relationship-type guys that fit the culture that we want to have," Langermeier said. "Luckily, like I've said before, the guy I am replacing is kind of a legend around there. It's not like he left me with a bare cupboard. He left me with some good football players, smart football players and tough kids."

He takes over a program that finished 6-4 and reached the playoffs in 2021, but loses a strong senior class that featured three All-Ohioans in two-way standouts Kanye Evans, Julian Jackson and Jordan Martin, among others.

Regardless of who would be coaching, the 2022 season has long been viewed as one in transition, if not in full rebuild mode. That is due to the heavy graduation losses and only eight juniors on last year's roster.

Langermeier, who will install a base 4-2-5 defense, said he isn't locked into an offensive system but favors a power spread scheme. He vowed to build his teams around the strengths of his players.

"I'm not going to be a guy who is going to bang my head against the wall trying to run my system, just because it's my system," Langermeier said. "You have to do what is best for the athletes you have on the field."

Regardless of the scheme, this season will feature many new faces. Aronhalt said it will take time.

"He's coming in understanding that it's going to take a lot of work at this point," Aronhalt said. "We know where we are as far as talent level and those kind of things, and he does, too. We're happy. We are really pleased. I think we got a good one. We hate to lose Chad, but at the same time I think we've got a really good replacement."

sblackbu@gannett.com

740-450-6723

Twitter: @SamBlackburn

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Zanesville High School football has new head coach in T.J. Langermeier