×

Fenstermaker excited by chance to lead Rogers City

Jesse Fenstermaker

ROGERS CITY–When Jesse Fenstermaker steps out on the football field, he gets butterflies.

No, Rogers City’s new coach isn’t nervous. He’s just that excited to coach football.

After several years working as a varsity assistant and with local youth programs, Fenstermaker has finally gotten his chance to lead the varsity squad. His tenure began last Monday with the Hurons’ first practice and the new coach is excited to see where his team goes in 2018.

“(I feel) butterflies every day.  When I played, when I walked out on the field I got butterflies. When I coach (and) I walk out on the field, I get butterflies,” Fenstermaker said. “The desire is there and there’s just nothing like it. I love being around football, I love teaching football and these kids, I’ve been around for quite a few years. They’re like family.”

As a resident of Rogers City for 10 years, Fenstermaker has made a point to be involved in Rogers City football at several levels. He started a K-4 flag football program and has also helped the PeeWee program. At the high school level, he served as Rogers City’s JV coach from 2013-17 and served as a varsity assistant under former coaches Tim Nagy and Cory Malocha, coaching both sides of the line and special teams.

Fenstermaker will be tasked with bringing consistency and stability to Rogers City’s program, but he’s already happy with what he’s seen in a week of practice. Rogers City kicked off its season with a midnight practice at Gilpin Field and Fenstermaker has been impressed with his players’ work ethic.

“I’ve been very, very happy with how things have been going,” Fenstermaker said. “The boys have come in right away and they go right to work; no complaints, no issues.”

Fenstermaker has learned a lot from both Nagy and Malocha and his experiences as a JV coach have also prepared him for his opportunity to lead the varsity program. Already Fenstermaker has done a few things to put his own stamp on the program. That started on Monday with the midnight practice and Fenstermaker has also run his practices combine-style, with a focus on conditioning as the team learns essentials such as blocking, footwork and route running.

“It’s a lot different from last year,” senior quarterback Caleb Bade said. “We’re splitting up the linemen and special teams and we’re working a lot more on offense and defense; just footwork drills and route running to get prepared for the season.”

That also includes utilizing the talent he has on his roster too. With nine seniors returning, Fenstermaker has a good deal of talent to work with and plans to tailor his offense to fit his personnel. He’s already been impressed with his team’s work ethic and he’s hoping that hard work plus desire will add up to wins on Friday nights.

“The desire to win is really big with these guys,” Fenstermaker said. “They’re split up in the summer. They don’t talk to each other a ton, but as soon as they were back out on the field it was like, they’d never split up for the other things that they do.”

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today