Written by: Marlowe Hereford
A familiar name with the southern and eastern Idaho high school coaching realm takes over the Blackfoot football program this fall.
Josh Stewart, whose previous stops include head coach at Declo and Ririe and assistant coach at Shelley, Ririe and Teton, begins his head coaching duties with the Broncos as they move to 5A under Idaho's new classification system. Blackfoot went winless last season and will now install a new system under coach Stewart that emphasizes physicality.
"We are going to instill a power running game with a play action passing game," Stewart said. "Jacob Monahan comes in as our offensive coordinator and as a tremendous O-line coach. We plan on being physical at the line of scrimmage."
Defensively, Stewart's emphasis will be on execution and forcing turnovers.
"We run a 4-front defense that focuses on making the offense execute all the way down the field," Stewart said. "We will try to limit big plays and force turnovers. We will rely a lot on our two inside linebackers, both returning seniors, Weston Layton and Landin Gallegos."
He added that learning the new systems will be key to success this fall.
"With the offensive and defensive schemes being new, the quicker we can become comfortable with those and gel as a team the better," Stewart said. "The kids have made tremendous progress during the offseason and if we can carry that momentum into the season, we can be a competitive and tough football team this upcoming season."
Stewart has spent the spring and summer getting to know the athletes on his new team. He is pleased with what he has seen so far from a football program with rich tradition.
"We have an excellent weight room program and culture and we had a great summer camp," Stewart said. "I'm looking forward to working with these kids to bring the tradition and culture of tough, hard-nosed football back to Blackfoot."
Blackfoot begins the season Aug. 30 with a home game versus Preston.