Citing that it was just the perfect fit, Jermel Jones is back in the high school football coaching ranks.
The former head coach at Lyman High and The Master’s Academy returns after one year removed from the game. He was hired as the new coach for Orangewood Christian Academy in Maitland.
“Yeah, it’s a private school and it’s a lot better for us,” Jones said. “I just thought with the way they are trying to build a program at Orangewood, where there is great backing and support from the administration, that is was something that I couldn’t turn down.”
The job opened when former coach Corey Metz retired from coaching after last season, when the Rams went 6-5.
Jones left Lyman high in 2024 after four seasons, during which he went 19-21. Prior to Lyman, he was at Lakeway Christian School in Tennessee for one year after coaching five seasons at The Master’s Academy in Oviedo, where he was 28-21.
He said his year off was a time for self-evaluation.
“I spent the time trying to get myself better, taking time to self-reflect and spend time with family,” Jones said. “Those things kind of kept my mind occupied, so I really wasn’t in the mindset of coaching again, but when the opportunity presented itself with Orangewood it was something I wanted to look into.
“I talked to my family about possibly getting back into coaching and my wife [Courtney] gave me her blessing and the rest is history.”
Metz remains on the academic staff at Orangewood and has helped usher Jones into the position.
“Coach Metz is still on campus so he has guided me through certain things they have done throughout the years,” Jones said. “And so he has given me his blessings and the excitement for something new and a little bit of a change has been welcoming.
“Sometimes there can be some resistance when you come into a new program, but there hasn’t been any resistance from players or parents and it’s just been very open arms toward the way me and my staff are going about doing things.”
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.