Meridian High School football made two major additions to its coaching staff this offseason.

Former Meridian head coach Larry Weems is back as defensive coordinator, and former Northeast Lauderdale head coach Glen Sanders has joined John Douglass’ staff as offensive coordinator. Weems returns to Meridian following a four-year stint as head coach at Jackson Academy, and he was the head coach at Meridian from 2006-15. Sanders was head coach of the 2019 Trojans and also served as offensive coordinator at Northeast Lauderdale when Douglass was head coach in 2018.

For Weems, it’s a homecoming, as he has a long history with Meridian dating back to when he was defensive coordinator for the Wildcats during the Mac Barnes era.

“Obviously it’s a place I’m really familiar with,” Weems said. “It’s a place I’m really comfortable with and I have a lot of friends here and have coached a lot of great players here, so I’m looking forward to being back.”

Sanders said he’s enthusiastic about being a Wildcat and hopes to help bring Meridian back to its former football glory.

“Meridian High is one of the premier football programs in Mississippi and always has been,” Sanders said. “I’m excited to be part of the staff.”

At this point in his career, Weems said he was ready to take a step back and focus on coaching without the added responsibilities of being a head coach.

“I just like coaching,” Weems said. “Being a position coach or a coordinator, you can just focus on that particular area and don’t have to deal with the rest of the stuff. That was always fun.”

With the novel coronavirus pandemic forcing schools to shut down, Weems was unable to spend time getting to know the Wildcats’ defensive personnel before everyone began staying home. He’s eager to get back on the field and evaluate the defense, but Weems says he understands the importance of waiting until it’s safe.

“This is more important than football obviously,” Weems said. “I’ve been gone for four years, so these kids would have been in seventh or eighth grade when I was last here, so I don’t have any background of seeing these guys. I do need to get over there and start familiarizing myself with the players and see what best fits our guys, but this is nothing anybody can control. We’ll just have to be really diligent with this and make up as much ground as we can when we do go back.”

Sanders said he plans to install a double wing pistol offense that tries to run and pass an even amount of times. Unlike the traditional wing T, Sanders said he wants the Wildcats’ offense to speed things up and control the tempo of the game.

“Our offense is very young,” Sanders said. “Most of the skill guys will be back, and all those guys were primarily ninth and 10th graders last year with an eighth grader as well, so I’m excited about that. From an offensive line standpoint, we only have a couple of guys coming back there, so we have our work cut out for us to make something happen with those guys, but Meridian has always had athletes and speed, so we’ll try to capitalize on that.”

In addition to working with those good athletes, Sanders said he’s also excited to join Douglass again as an assistant coach.

“He lets you work and do your job,” Sanders explained. “He’s a winner; he wants to win. He’s a guy who I think will bring good things to Meridian, and I want to be a part of that.”

Following the 2019 season, Weems said he and Douglass began having preliminary discussions about Weems joining his staff for the 2020-21 school year. That eventually led to Weems accepting the job.

“He came in late right before the season (last year) and didn’t have a chance to do a whole lot with the kids schematically or coaching-wise,” Weems said. “They did the best they could. Being a former player and coach there, he wants to see Meridian back to where he thinks it should be. …. We talked about it late in the first semester after the season and it grew into something that I think is good for me. I hope I can be good for him and the school system.”

The Wildcats went 2-10 last fall, and Sanders said the coaches know they have a rebuilding job on their hands. That hasn’t dampened their excitement for the season.

“Everybody is on the same page,” Sanders said. “We know we’re going to have to work harder than we ever have and push guys and get them to do the small things well and correctly, because that will turn into big things for us. The whole coaching staff, we can’t wait to get this thing turned around and get out there and work. Everyone is excited about what we have in front of us.”