Photo by Jim Ridolphi
Right: Former Highland Springs’ defensive coordinator Jason Meade was named head football coach at Lee-Davis and vows to return the Confederates to former glory.
Former Springers' defensive coordinator takes the reins in Mechanicsville
Published: March 04, 2008
By Jim Ridolphi
It’s been a long time since Lee-Davis played a prominent role in the Central Region football playoff picture but if Jason Meade has his way, that is going to change… fast.
Named as new head coach at Lee-Davis last week, the former Highland Springs defensive coordinator hopes to revitalize a proud tradition of winning football on the Mechanicsville gridiron.
“There is a solid tradition here at Lee-Davis of quality football,” Meade said. “We’re looking to build on that strong tradition.”
But, that is not the number one priority on his list. Meade believes instilling strong values and good work ethics is a mandatory starting point, and the rest will follow.
“It’s not about wins and losses,” he said. “It’s about producing quality young men. If we produce quality young men, we’re going to win football games.”
Entering his first year as a head football coach, Meade said the Lee-Davis job is a dream come true. “We’re excited to be here. When we were first heard of Coach League’s possible retirement a year ago, we were interested.”
Coaching at Highland Springs for the past five years, Meade is not exactly a stranger to Lee-Davis football. He noticed something he liked in the junior varsity team the past two seasons as they played against the Springers. “We split with their JV team the past two years,” Meade said. “The young kids over here that Marty McDonnell has been working with play hard, fast and physical. They weren’t intimidated.”
A fresh start
Where and when does the mission begin? “Today,” said Meade barely a week into the job. “We start in the weight room March 3. We’re going to build everything we do around having a well conditioned, well disciplined football team.”
Returning players and potential athletes met with the coach early last week in an informational, get to know session at the school. The squad returns a large number of starters, but Meade said he has not evaluated individual positions yet, and he is keeping an open mind.
“We’re looking to open this up to anyone who wants to play football,” Meade said. “We’re not looking at the past. We’re looking from this day forward to see who can help Lee-Davis football succeed,” he said. “These kids are hungry and they want to win.”
When it comes to football philosophy, Meade said it will not be flashy. He believes in running the ball on offense and stopping the run on defense.
“We’re not looking to out-scheme anyone,” Meade said. “We will be extremely disciplined and we’ll find hard-nosed kids who want to play aggressively.”
A Varina graduate, Meade attended James Madison University and received his advanced degree at Wingate University in North Carolina. Meade was named Touchdown Club of Richmond’s Capital District Assistant Coach of the Year for the 2007 season. He lives with his wife and one-year old daughter in Chesterfield County, but the three of them plan on spending most of their time near the Lee-Davis football field.
“They’ll be at all the junior varsity and varsity games,” Meade said. “We’re going to love these kids and we’re going to be a family. We are going to form relationships that last forever.”
And that theory of family carries well beyond blood relations. Meade has assembled a top-notch group of assistants to accompany him at Lee-Davis. Blended with some key retentions from last year’s staff, Meade thinks the combination will be beneficial.
Charlie Crittenden, another Springer transfer, will run the offense, and Gary Frank will coach special teams. Marty McDonnell remains on the staff for this year’s season. Former Lee-Davis quarterback Jerry Taylor will coach the receivers and Springers transfer Chris Martinez will also join the staff. Returning for a second stint at Lee-Davis, John Crittenden rounds out the staff, so far.
“We’re bringing in a mix of the old staff that was here at LD, people who are coming from Highland Springs and people from outside the area. It’s going to be a good mix of the old and the new,” Meade said.
Meade said it will be his job to focus all of this energy into a winning football season, and he cannot wait to get started. Only days on the job, the biology teacher is quickly feeling at home in Mechanicsville.
“It felt right from the beginning,” he said. “I couldn’t wait to get back to this community,” Meade said. “I think we can win a lot of football games here and can be a Central Region power. That’s the way they were, and that’s the way we’re gonna be.”
Meade envisions Fridays in Mechanicsville as a celebration of Lee Davis football.
“We want Friday night to be an exciting thing,” Meade said. “We want to have this community involved. We want to bring back that small town feel to Friday night football where we have the crowds and the pageantry.”
